SCOTLAND

Consultants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much (a) he and (b) officials in his Department spent on external assistance to prepare for (i) appearances before select committees and (ii) contact with the media in (A) 2011-12 and (B) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

David Mundell: The Secretary of State for Scotland and officials in the Scotland Office spent nothing on external assistance to prepare for (i) appearances before select committees and (ii) contact with the media in (A) 2011-12 and (B) 2012-13.

Food

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of all food procured for his Department was sourced from (a) British producers, (b) small and medium-sized enterprises and (c) producers which met British buying standards in the latest period for which figures are available.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office procures very few food products. In instructing caterers for events paid for by the Scotland Office, regard is given to whether the caterers source the food from (a) British producers, (b) small and medium-sized enterprises, and (c) producers which meet the Government's buying standards for food and catering.

WALES

Business Advisory Group

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the remit is of the Wales Office Business Advisory Group; and what has been its output to date.

David Jones: The Business Advisory Group provides valuable information on matters affecting the economy in Wales.
	At the meeting on 9 July 2013, we discussed UK Government policies to improve access to finance for businesses across the United Kingdom. Members of the group expressed concern that the Welsh Government is not sufficiently promoting the availability of these schemes as part of the advice they provide to businesses in Wales. As an immediate output I have written to the Welsh Government to express these concerns to ensure that they work with the UK Government to promote these schemes to support economic growth in Wales.

Business: Billing

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the effects on small and medium-sized enterprises in Wales of late payment by clients.

David Jones: Research from Experian shows that the average amount of time businesses are taking to settle invoices has fallen over the last two years. While we welcome this, the Government is aware of the cash flow difficulties arising from late payment.
	Following a campaign by the Government, 76 of the FTSE 100 companies have either signed the Prompt Payment Code or committed to sign up to the Code. Altogether, signatories to the Prompt Payment Code constitute well over 60% of total UK supply chain value.

Consultants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much (a) he and (b) officials in his Department spent on external assistance to prepare for (i) appearances before select committees and (ii) contact with the media in (A) 2011-12 and (B) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Crabb: None.

Devolution

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent meetings he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the Government's response to the recommendations of the Commission on Devolution in Wales.

David Jones: I have had regular meetings with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne) to discuss the Government's response to the recommendations in the Commission on Devolution in Wales's Part I report.

Devolution

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions and meetings he has had with his ministerial colleagues from other departments regarding the publication of the Draft Wales Bill.

David Jones: I have discussed the publication of the draft Wales Bill with ministerial colleagues on a number of occasions and these discussions will continue as we work toward publication of the draft Bill and pre-legislative scrutiny later in the year.

Food

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proportion of all food procured for his Department was sourced from (a) British producers, (b) small and medium-sized enterprises and (c) producers which met British buying standards in the latest period for which figures are available.

Stephen Crabb: The Wales Office has no in-house catering facilities and procures external catering for specific functions on an ad-hoc basis. We seek to ensure that, whenever practicable, the food procured is from British producers.

Social Security Benefits

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he is taking to ensure that Welsh interests are taken into consideration in the implementation of the Government's policies on employment and welfare reform.

David Jones: My Department is actively engaged with the Department for Work and Pensions in the implementation of the Government's policies on employment and welfare reform at both official and ministerial level. The Under-Secretary of State for Wales, my hon. Friend the Member for Preseli Pembrokeshire (Stephen Crabb) recently met with the Minister for Welfare Reform, and I have had discussions with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith). I have plans to meet further with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in due course.

Third Sector

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he is taking to promote the Big Society in Wales.

David Jones: We have established a Big Society Advisory Forum and also held two seminars to promote the Big Society in Wales. We work closely with the Cabinet Office and engage with the Welsh Government on the outcomes and we will continue to do so.
	The important work that social enterprises undertake in Wales has also been recognised via the Prime Minister's Big Society Awards, with the most recently award being presented to Crest Co-operative in January.

Transport

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport about road and rail infrastructure renewal in Wales.

David Jones: I have regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin).
	Wales will benefit directly and indirectly from almost £2 billon of the investment in rail infrastructure committed to by this Government and we will continue to work with the Department for Transport on other rail priorities. As the Chancellor reiterated in his spending review statement, we are committed to working with the Welsh Government to deliver a funding solution for improvements to the M4 around Newport.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Consultants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much (a) she and (b) officials in her Department spent on external assistance to prepare for (i) appearances before select committees and (ii) contact with the media in (A) 2011-12 and (B) 2012-13; and if she will make a statement.

Theresa Villiers: Neither I nor any officials in my Department have spent departmental funds on external assistance in preparation for appearances before select committees or contact with the media in 2011-12 or 2012-13.

Food

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proportion of all food procured for her Department was sourced from (a) British producers, (b) small and medium-sized enterprises and (c) producers which met British buying standards in the latest period for which figures are available.

Theresa Villiers: My Department aims to promote Northern Ireland produce. All meat, fish and vegetables purchased are locally sourced where possible, depending on seasonal availability.
	The NIO does not currently record information about the size of suppliers as this does not fully reflect the number and size of businesses engaged in supplying goods and services. For example, many SMEs can be found within larger supply chains.
	Information on producers which met British buying standards is not available as this is not currently recorded.

Northcote House

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department used the facilities at Northcote House, Sunningdale Park, Berkshire in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and if she will make a statement.

Theresa Villiers: No Ministers or officials in my Department used the facilities at Northcote House, Sunningdale Park, Berkshire during the specified periods.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Accountancy

Barry Sheerman: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, how much the House of Commons Commission spent on contracts with (a) Deloitte, (b) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (c) KPMG and (d) Ernst and Young in each year since 2008.

John Thurso: The expenditure incurred has been:
	
		
			 £ 
			  2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Deloitte 0 205,200 382,994 313,051 396,851 
			 PwC 262,790 690,512 28,755 9,600 0 
			 KPMG 0 0 0 0 30,427 
			 E&Y 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Total 262,790 895,712 411,749 322,651 427,278 
		
	
	The House of Commons Internal Audit service has a contract with Deloitte, and prior to 2010-11 with PwC, to provide outsourced services in support of its annual audit programme. A significant level of additional work was required in connection with Sir Thomas Legg's Review of Additional Costs Allowance payments (HC 348 2009-10) published in February 2010. The 2012-13 KPMG entry relates to a secondee to the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards; these costs are being re-charged to HM Treasury.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Burma

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what improvements in human rights he will be prioritising when President Thein Sein of Burma visits the UK.

Hugo Swire: Human rights concerns remain at the forefront of our engagement with the Burmese Government, as it continues to implement political and economic reforms.
	This visit will be a significant opportunity to continue our dialogue with the Burmese Government: acknowledging positive progress on reform, while raising our concerns on Kachin and Rakhine states and the full range of human rights and ethnic issues including the release of remaining political prisoners.

Burma

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reasons human rights lead at the embassy in Burma has been downgraded to the third political officer position.

Hugo Swire: The premise of the question is incorrect. Responsibility for human rights within the embassy in Rangoon has not been downgraded. The appointment of a new third secretary to Rangoon is as an additional resource and is part of a wider upgrading of UK diplomatic presence in Burma, which will significantly increase our capacity to work with the Burmese Government on issues of concern.

Burma

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Burma urging it to repeal all repressive laws in that country.

Hugo Swire: The Government supports constitutional reform in Burma and is working with the key Burmese institutions involved in the reform process. During my visit to Burma in December 2012, I raised with Ministers the prospects for Burma's transition towards democracy, and offered support as Burma seeks to reform its laws and processes.
	The visit to the UK of President Thein Sein will be a significant opportunity to continue this dialogue with the Burmese Government: acknowledging positive progress on reform, while raising our concerns. Human rights will remain at the heart of our engagement with the Burmese Government, as it continues to implement political and economic reforms. Our support for the Burmese Government's reform agenda also includes an offer to provide technical assistance on drafting new legislation, building on the UK-Burmese parliamentary exchanges that have already taken place.

Burma

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the government of Burma about recent reports of Burmese Government security forces raping ethnic Rohingya women.

Hugo Swire: We are very concerned by reports of sexual violence in Burma. The British Government regularly lobbies the Burmese Government on the rights of women, particularly on preventing sexual violence against women in conflict areas.
	The visit of President Thein Sein to London will be a significant opportunity to continue our dialogue with the Burmese Government: acknowledging positive progress on reform, while raising our concerns on Kachin and Rakhine states and the full range of human rights and ethnic issues, including the release of remaining political prisoners.

Burma

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of whether the demands made at the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union on 26 April 2012, urging the Government of Burma to secure the status and welfare of the Rohingya, have been met by the Government of Burma.

Hugo Swire: There is a continuing need to address the status and welfare of the Rohingya community in Burma's Rakhine State. At the Foreign Affairs Council on 22 April 2013, EU Foreign Ministers repeated the need for urgent action to deal with humanitarian risks for all displaced people in Rakhine State. At the same time, the EU encouraged the Burmese Government to continue to pursue and implement durable solutions to the underlying causes of the tensions that include addressing the status of the Rohingya.
	EU Foreign Ministers also invited the High Representative, Baroness Ashton, to propose a comprehensive framework with priorities for the EU's policy and support to the ongoing reforms for the next three years. We are working closely with EU member states and institutions to ensure it includes action to address the status of the Rohingya community.

China

Frank Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in what ways the planned additional £4 million investment in his Department's operations in China will increase the UK's reach, understanding and influence in that country.

Hugo Swire: Our investment will increase our reach by supporting our work in new areas like health care and energy. We have established a team of outreach officers deployed to China's second and third tier cities, able to represent the UK across the whole spectrum of our interests. New resource in our political and economic teams is already improving our understanding, not least of domestic developments in China. New staff in our press team are helping us to influence debates on key issues in China, like the development of civil society and climate change, including through social media.

Food

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of all food procured for his Department was sourced from (a) British producers, (b) small and medium-sized enterprises and (c) producers which met British buying standards in the latest period for which figures are available.

David Lidington: For the period of April 2012 to 5 June 2013, 62% of food procured under the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCOUK) catering contract has been sourced from British producers. The remainder is accounted for by non-indigenous foodstuffs, such as coffee or rice, or by UK fruits and vegetables which are out of season. The FCO's catering suppliers procure food from 45 small or medium-sized enterprises, which accounts for 38% of their overall supply chain. All food provided under the catering contract meets British buying standards.
	This information relates to the UK catering contract only. Information for our network of overseas posts is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Hong Kong

Frank Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last discussed the potential effects of the 2017 and 2020 elections in Hong Kong with his Chinese counterpart.

Hugo Swire: I discussed universal suffrage with the Hong Kong SAR Government during my visit of 24-25 June. The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Boston and Skegness (Mark Simmonds) also discussed this issue with the President of the Hong Kong Legislative Council on 12 June, during the latter's visit to the UK.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office continues to monitor developments carefully, including through the publication of the six-monthly reports on the implementation of the Sino-British Joint Declaration in Hong Kong, and through the publication of annual human rights reports. The Chinese authorities are aware of our views on this matter which are made clear in the six-monthly reports.

Vietnam

George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to encourage the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to set a date for the visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

Hugo Swire: Our embassy in Hanoi raised the question of a visit by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief bilaterally with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in July 2013. The UK will continue, bilaterally and through the EU, to encourage the Vietnamese Government to secure dates for a visit.

JUSTICE

Civil Disorder

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many of those convicted of offences in relation to the disturbances in the summer of 2011 have not yet completed custodial sentences.

Jeremy Wright: By 10 August 2012 a total of 1,405 immediate custodial sentences had been passed for offences relating to the public disturbances of August 2011.
	As at 31 August 2012 there were 606 offenders in custody serving a custodial sentence for an offence related to the public disturbances of August 2011.
	These 606 offenders in custody were still serving the custodial element of their sentence, however, all prisoners serve their whole sentence. This is generally served 50% in custody and, for those serving 12 months or more, 50% in the community on licence under supervision, when they can be recalled to prison at any time if they breach the conditions on their licence. A number of offenders will have been released from custody but will still be subject to supervision for the remaining length of their sentence in the community.
	Immediately following the public disturbances, a bespoke manual data collection system was set up to record and collect information on individuals brought to court for their involvement to allow swift reporting on volumes of court proceedings, convictions, and subsequent custodial sentences. This data collection system was discontinued in August 2012 and to provide data for a more recent period would incur disproportionate cost.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Legal Aid Scheme

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the potential effect the limiting legal aid funding for judicial reviews will have on those citizens who wish to challenge decisions made by public bodies.

Jeremy Wright: As part of our consultation “Transforming Legal aid: delivering a more credible and efficient system” we have published an impact assessment which is available at
	https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/transforming-legal-aid
	As set out in the consultation paper, we are concerned that legal aid is being used to fund applications for permission for judicial review in weak cases which are unsuccessful and which have little effect other than to incur unnecessary costs for the public. In 2011-12, around half of the legally aided permission applications which were considered by the court were not granted permission.
	Under the proposal on which we consulted, providers would only be paid for work carried out on an application for permission if permission is granted by the court.
	Providers would need to consider more carefully the strength of the case and the likelihood of permission being granted when deciding whether or not to make the application for permission for judicial review.
	Legal aid would continue to be available for the initial stages of a case, to investigate the strength of a claim, for example, and to enable providers to engage in correspondence aimed at achieving early resolution and avoiding proceedings, as is required by the Pre-Action Protocol. Many cases settle at this early stage, therefore avoiding further costs to the courts, legal aid scheme and public authorities.
	We are now carefully considering all responses to the consultation, including those commenting on the impacts of our proposals.

Lincoln Prison

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison officers employed at HMP Lincoln have been (a) made redundant and (b) given notice of redundancy between December 2012 and June 2013.

Jeremy Wright: No prison officers at HMP Lincoln have either been made redundant or been given notice of redundancy between December 2012 and June 2013.

Prisoners

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) women and (b) men were received into prison (i) for breaching a court order, (ii) for breaching bail and (iii) under sentence in (A) 2011 and (B) 2012.

Jeremy Wright: The following table provides information on the number of offenders received into prison under an immediate custodial sentence in 2011 and 2012.
	
		
			 Receptions into prison establishments under an immediate custodial sentence by sex, 2011 and 2012 
			 Number 
			  2011 2012 
			 Male 82,240 77,853 
			 Female 7,582 7,469 
		
	
	Prison reception data held centrally does not contain information on those offenders received for breaching a court order or for breaching bail. Sentencing statistics show that were 1,734 and 1,320 offenders given immediate custodial sentences for failing to surrender to bail in 2011 and 2012 respectively.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Reoffenders: Essex

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many (a) males and (b) females in each age group on probation in the Essex Probation Trust area reoffended in each of the last 12 months for which information is available; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what the 10 most frequent offences committed by (a) males and (b) females in each age group on probation within Essex Probation Trust area were in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice produces and publishes proven reoffending data for offenders starting a court order over a 12-month period, and reoffending for these offenders is based on a 12-month follow-up period. Table 1 presents, by age band, the number of male and female adults (aged 18 or over) who commenced a court order supervised by Essex Probation Trust in the 12 months from July 2010 to June 2011 (the latest period available). Also presented is the number that reoffended in the one year follow-up period, and proven reoffending rates (i.e. the proportion of the offenders who reoffended in a one year follow-up period).
	Table 2 presents, by age band, the 10 most frequent proven re-offences committed by male and female adult offenders within 12 months of starting a court order supervised by Essex Probation Trust in the 12 months from July 2010 to June 2011.
	Proven reoffending is defined as any offence committed in a one-year follow-up period and receiving a court conviction, caution, reprimand or warning in the one year follow-up period and a further six-month waiting period to allow cases to progress through the courts.
	
		
			 Table 1: Proven reoffending data for male and female adult offenders in England and Wales commencing a court order supervised by Essex Probation Trust in the 12 months ending June 2011, by age group 
			  Age band Number of offenders in cohort(1) Number of reoffenders Proportion of offenders who reoffend (%) 
			 Males 18 to 20 566 250 44.2 
			  21 to 24 645 251 38.9 
			  25 to 29 554 213 38.4 
			  30 to 34 432 154 35.6 
			  35 to 39 384 121 31.5 
			  40 to 44 321 92 28.7 
			  45 to 49 215 49 22.8 
			  50+ 234 38 16.2 
		
	
	
		
			  Total 3,351 1,168 34.9 
			      
			 Females 18 to 20 66 25 37.9 
			  21 to 24 95 38 40.0 
			  25 to 29 99 31 31.3 
			  30 to 34 108 36 33.3 
			  35 to 39 79 18 22.8 
			  40 to 44 85 15 17.6 
			  45 to 49 54 13 24.1 
			  50+ 56 6 10.7 
			  Total 642 182 28.3 
			 (1) The group of offenders for whom reoffending is measured does not represent all proven offenders. Offenders who commenced a court order are matched to the police national computer database and a certain proportion of these offenders cannot be matched. These unmatched offenders are, therefore, excluded from the proven re-offending measure. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: 10 most frequent proven re-offences committed by male and female adult offenders commencing a court order supervised by Essex Probation Trust in the 12 months ending June 2011, by age band 
			 Age band Males Age band Females 
			 18 to 20 Offence 18 to 20 Offence 
			  Violence-non serious  Theft 
			  Theft  Violence-non serious 
			  Drugs (Possession/Small Scale Supply)  Public Order or Riot 
			  Criminal or Malicious Damage  Fraud and Forgery 
			  Other Motoring Offences  Absconding or Bail Offences 
			  Public Order or Riot  Other Motoring Offences 
			  Absconding or Bail Offences  Drugs (Possession/Small Scale Supply) 
			  Domestic Burglary  Drugs (Import/Export/Production/Supply) 
			  Taking and Driving Away and Related Offences  Handling 
			  Theft from Vehicles  Violence-serious 
			  Other Burglary  Sexual 
			  —  Robbery 
			  —  Criminal or Malicious Damage 
			     
			 21 to 24 Theft 21 to 24 Theft 
			  Violence-non serious  Violence-non serious 
			  Public Order or Riot  Public Order or Riot 
			  Drugs (Possession/Small Scale Supply)  Absconding or Bail Offences 
			  Criminal or Malicious Damage  Drugs (Possession/Small Scale Supply) 
			  Other Motoring Offences  Fraud and Forgery 
			  Absconding or Bail Offences  Other Motoring Offences 
			  Other Burglary  Handling 
			  Fraud and Forgery  Other Burglary 
			  Taking and Driving Away and Related Offences  Soliciting or Prostitution 
			  Drink Driving Offences  Robbery 
			  Theft from Vehicles  — 
			  Domestic Burglary  — 
			  Drugs (Import/Export/Production/Supply)  — 
			     
			 25 to 29 Theft 25 to 29 Theft 
			  Violence-non serious  Absconding or Bail Offences 
			  Public Order or Riot  Violence-non serious 
			  Criminal or Malicious Damage  Public Order or Riot 
			  Other Motoring Offences  Drugs (Possession/Small Scale Supply) 
			  Drugs (Possession/Small Scale Supply)  Drugs (Import/Export/Production/Supply) 
			  Absconding or Bail Offences  Handling 
		
	
	
		
			  Drugs (Import/Export/Production/Supply)  Criminal or Malicious Damage 
			  Fraud and Forgery  Fraud and Forgery 
			  Other Burglary  Other Motoring Offences 
			  —  Domestic Burglary 
			  —  Other Burglary 
			     
			 30 to 34 Theft 30 to 34 Theft 
			  Violence-non serious  Violence-non serious 
			  Public Order or Riot  Absconding or Bail Offences 
			  Other Motoring Offences  Public Order or Riot 
			  Drugs (Possession/Small Scale Supply)  Fraud and Forgery 
			  Absconding or Bail Offences  Drugs (Possession/Small Scale Supply) 
			  Criminal or Malicious Damage  Criminal or Malicious Damage 
			  Fraud and Forgery  Drink Driving Offences 
			  Drugs (Import/Export/Production/Supply)  Domestic Burglary 
			  Domestic Burglary  — 
			  Other Burglary  — 
			  Drink Driving Offences  — 
			     
			 35 to 39 Theft 35 to 39 Theft 
			  Violence-non serious  Drugs (Import/Export/Production/Supply) 
			  Public Order or Riot  Other Motoring Offences 
			  Other Motoring Offences  Fraud and Forgery 
			  Drugs (Possession/Small Scale Supply)  Absconding or Bail Offences 
			  Absconding or Bail Offences  Public Order or Riot 
			  Criminal or Malicious Damage  Violence-non serious 
			  Fraud and Forgery  Criminal or Malicious Damage 
			  Drink Driving Offences  Drink Driving Offences 
			  Domestic Burglary  — 
			  Other Burglary  — 
			  Drugs (Import/Export/Production/Supply)  — 
			  Theft from Vehicles  — 
			  Sexual  — 
			     
			 40 to 44 Theft 40 to 44 Theft 
			  Violence-non serious  Other Motoring Offences 
			  Public Order or Riot  Violence-non serious 
			  Other Motoring Offences  Drugs (Possession/Small Scale Supply) 
			  Absconding or Bail Offences  Drink Driving Offences 
			  Criminal or Malicious Damage  Fraud and Forgery 
			  Drugs (Possession/Small Scale Supply)  Absconding or Bail Offences 
			  Drugs (Import/Export/Production/Supply)  — 
			  Sexual  — 
			  Drink Driving Offences  — 
			  Fraud and Forgery  — 
			     
			 45 to 49 Theft 45 to 49 Theft 
			  Violence-non serious  Violence-non serious 
			  Public Order or Riot  Absconding or Bail Offences 
			  Other Motoring Offences  Public Order or Riot 
			  Absconding or Bail Offences  Drugs (Possession/Small Scale Supply) 
			  Criminal or Malicious Damage  Criminal or Malicious Damage 
			  Drugs (Possession/Small Scale Supply)  — 
		
	
	
		
			  Fraud and Forgery  — 
			  Drink Driving Offences  — 
			  Other Burglary  — 
			     
			 50+ Theft 50+ Theft 
			  Public Order or Riot  Other Motoring Offences 
			  Violence-non serious  Public Order or Riot 
			  Absconding or Bail Offences  Drink Driving Offences 
			  Other Motoring Offences  Criminal or Malicious Damage 
			  Drugs (Possession/Small Scale Supply)  Fraud and Forgery 
			  Drink Driving Offences  — 
			  Criminal or Malicious Damage  — 
			  Fraud and Forgery  — 
			  Other Burglary  — 
			  Domestic Burglary  — 
			  Drugs (Import/Export/Production/Supply)  —

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Accountancy

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on contracts with (a) Deloitte, (b) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (c) KPMG and (d) Ernst and Young in each year since 2008.

Richard Benyon: This table sets out spend by core DEFRA in each financial year from 2008-09 up to 30 June 2013 in the current year.
	
		
			 £ 
			  2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 to 30 June 
			 (a) Deloitte 936,950 830,118 5,060,446 909,564 43,088 0 
			 (b) PWC 261,103 1,600,708 995,610 357,425 135,096 0 
			 (c) KPMG 8,813 0 0 208,980 18,000 0 
			 (d) Ernst and Young 180,623 803,348 115,589 246,905 960,478 223,742

Agriculture: Fuels

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate he has made of the number of fuel stations which sell red diesel for use in agricultural vehicles.

Sajid Javid: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Treasury.
	Information from returns submitted to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) by registered dealers in controlled oil shows that, in 2012, 578 businesses made supplies of marked gas oil for agricultural use. It is not possible estimate how many of these suppliers are operating as ‘fuel stations’.

Agriculture: Fuels

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to ensure that farmers are aware of the penalties for using vehicles powered by red diesel on public roads.

Sajid Javid: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Treasury.
	Section 5 of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Notice 75 clearly sets out the penalties for misusing rebated fuels as road fuel, which includes agricultural vehicles used for non-qualifying activities.
	In addition, HMRC officers attend agricultural events around the UK, providing information and advice on this subject.

Flood Control

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department has spent on flood protection measures in (a) England, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) the City of York council area in each year since 1995-96.

Richard Benyon: The following table shows spending by DEFRA on flood protection in England since 1996.
	
		
			 DEFRA funding for flood defences 
			  Total (£ million) 
			 1996-97 102 
			 1997-98 87 
			 1998-99 78 
		
	
	
		
			 1999-2000 76 
			 2000-01 72 
			 2001-02 85 
			 2002-03 128 
			 2003-04 136 
			 2004-05 415 
			 2005-06 515 
			 2006-07 505 
			 2007-08 457 
			 2008-09 566 
			 2009-10 620 
			 2010-11 646 
			 2011-12 548 
			 2012-13 523 
			 2013-14 533 
		
	
	The following table shows the total expenditure of the Yorkshire Regional Flood Defence Committee and specifically on the City of York. Prior to 2004-05 grants were provided through a system of central Government grants to individual local authorities.
	
		
			 £000 
			   City of York 
			  Yorkshire Regional Flood Defence Committee(1) Capital Revenue 
			 2000-01 28,578 0 (2)582 
			 2001-02 30,715 0 (2)675 
			 2002-03 41,548 56 (2)768 
			 2003-04 37,330 130 780 
			 2004-05 33,421 0 750 
			 2005-06 40,684 120 830 
			 2006-07 34,015 110 650 
			 2007-08 35,174 24 663 
			 2008-09 41,791 56 676 
			 2009-10 57,704 53 641 
			 2010-11 48,645 132 342 
			 2011-12 42,376 194 192 
			 2012-13 39,413 747 224 
			 (1) Total spend for Yorkshire and north bank of Humber (including York). (2) Prior to 2003 figures are based on the management area in which York is based, the Ouse.

Flood Control

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on the construction of flood defences in each of the last five years.

Richard Benyon: The following table shows the level of capital funding provided by DEFRA for construction of flood defences since 2008.
	
		
			 Capital grant in aid for the construction of flood and coastal erosion risk management assets 
			  £ million 
			 2008-09 313 
			 2009-10 349 
			 2010-11 354 
			 2011-12 291 
			 2012-13 266 
		
	
	DEFRA will be investing £294 million this financial year and £344 million in 2014-15 in capital flood and coastal erosion risk projects. Looking forward, DEFRA has been successful, for the first time, in securing a long-term, capital settlement to improve flood management infrastructure. We will be investing £370 million in 2015-16 and then the same in real terms each year to 2020-21 on capital schemes.

Hunting Act 2004

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what meetings and discussions he and his officials have attended in the last 12 months on the potential repeal of the Hunting Act 2004.

Richard Benyon: The Secretary of State met the Countryside Alliance on 14 May 2013 and discussed the efficacy of the Hunting Act 2004, along with other topics.

Hunting Act 2004

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 27 June 2013, Official Report, columns 331-32W, on the Hunting Act 2004, what proportion of the responses referred to in the Answer were (a) in favour and (b) against the repeal of the Hunting Act 2004.

Richard Benyon: Of the 114 pieces of correspondence referred to in the answer of 27 June 2013, Official Report, columns 331-32W, 65 expressed an opinion in favour of the Hunting Act 2004 and 26 expressed an opinion against the Hunting Act 2004. 23 did not express an opinion either for or against the Hunting Act 2004.

Insects

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the goals set out in his Department's document entitled Biodiversity 2020: A Strategy for England's Wildlife and Ecosystem Services, published in August 2011, what targets on reversing the decline of all species of pollinators in the UK he will aim to have met by 2020.

Richard Benyon: “The Biodiversity 2020” strategy sets out a series of outcomes to guide actions to halt overall biodiversity loss, support healthy well-functioning ecosystems, and establish coherent ecological networks with more and better places for nature for the benefit of wildlife and people. In 2012-13, 41,851 hectares of priority habitat were brought into favourable or recovering condition under the higher level tier of our agri-environment scheme, Environmental Stewardship, and 22,927 hectares of new priority habitat were created.
	Programme outcomes and measures of performance will similarly be set for any new priority actions identified during the consultation on the development of the new national pollinators strategy, announced by the Under-Secretary of State, my noble Friend, Lord de Mauley, on 28 June.

Natural England

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the proposed duty to have regard to growth on the ability of Natural England to fulfil its general purpose under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 of ensuring that the natural environment is conserved, enhanced and managed for the benefit of present and future generations; if he will make it his policy that, in the pursuit of its advisory duties, Natural England should act with scientific integrity and impartiality in all circumstances; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: The proposed duty on non-economic regulators to have regard to growth will support growth without weakening environmental protection. It will be complementary to existing duties and will not override Natural England's general purpose under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006.
	Natural England's role requires it to carry out its statutory duties and advisory functions with scientific integrity and impartiality and it is important that it continues to do so. The proposed duty will not change this.
	The Government will publish guidance on the application of the proposed duty to ensure there is clarity on its effect and to avoid any unintended consequences that restrict the powers of Natural England and other bodies to carry out their statutory duties.

Plastic Bags

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, (b) the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and (c) the Chancellor of the Exchequer regarding the review of the merits of introducing a tax on single use plastic bags in the retail sector.

Richard Benyon: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), Affairs, has regular discussions on a number of subjects with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles), the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), and the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the normal course of business.

Public Expenditure

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  if he will publish details of expenditure under the A respected Department programme identified in his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2011-12 in each of the last three years; and what the projected spend for each of the next three years by (a) scheme and (b) individual project is;
	(2)  if he will publish details of expenditure under the Rural Payments Agency EC funded programme identified in his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2011-12 in each of the last three years; and what the projected spend for each of the next three years by (a) scheme and (b) individual project is;
	(3)  with reference to his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2011-12, what amount was spent under the Strong rural communities programme in each of the last three years; and what estimate he has made of likely spend on each project and scheme under that programme in each of the next three years;
	(4)  with reference to his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2011-12, what amount was spent under the A thriving farming and food sector programme in each of the last three years; and what estimate he has made of likely spend on each project and scheme under that programme in each of the next three years;
	(5)  with reference to his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2011-12, what amount was spent under the A sustainable, secure and healthy food supply programme in each of the last three years; and what estimate he has made of likely spend on each project and scheme under that programme in each of the next three years.

Richard Benyon: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 5 July 2013, Official Report, column 828W.
	A table detailing the breakdown of the priorities by programme has been placed in the House Library.

Recycling

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many recycling plants have failed health and safety requirements in each year since 2001.

Richard Benyon: holding answer 5 July 2013
	The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) does not hold the information in the form requested, and it could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Regulation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the conclusion of his Department's regulatory review of August 2011 in respect of the overall benefit: cost ratio of regulations implemented by his Department whose benefit to wider society has been monetised; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA's report of August 2011 was a comprehensive assessment of the costs and benefits of the stock of DEFRA's regulations, designed to improve the evidence supporting regulatory reform and to make this information available to a wider audience.
	There have been no discussions between the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), about the report itself. However, the assessment has been used to inform DEFRA's approach to better regulation, including the Red Tape Challenge. It will be updated periodically, with the next revision due to be published by October.
	The report can be accessed here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-costs-and-benefits-of-defra-s-regulations

Regulation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the outcome of the Triennial Review of the Environment Agency and Natural England in respect of targets for regulatory burden reduction, what consideration he has given to (a) the social, economic, environmental and health benefits of such regulation and (b) the conclusion of his Department's regulatory review of August 2011 in respect of the benefit: cost ratio of biodiversity regulations; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: The information requested is as follows:
	(a) DEFRA's report “The Costs and Benefits of Defra's Regulatory Stock”, published in August 2011, comprehensively assessed the costs and benefits of DEFRA's regulatory stock, including the costs and benefits related to business as well as other parties such as the public. Thus, the report covers the social, economic, environmental and health benefits of DEFRA's regulations where available, although it does not specifically break them down into these categories.
	The assessment shows that, for those regulations where the benefits to wider society have been monetised, the overall benefit:cost ratio (ie including all the monetised benefits and all the monetised costs for all relevant regulations) is 2.4:1. This means that, where £1 is spent on regulation (mainly by businesses and public authorities), there is a £2.40 return to society (mainly economic benefits to business and the public and environmental and health benefits). The report includes reliability estimates of the data because, in general, there is currently better information about costs than benefits.
	(b) The assessment includes a benefit:cost ratio for biodiversity regulations of 8.6:1. As stated above, the ratio is only estimated where both benefits and costs data are available. The ratio for biodiversity is based solely on the sites of specific scientific interest.

Squirrels

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of red squirrels in England in each of the last five years.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA has not made any such estimates. Red squirrels are extremely difficult to count and populations can fluctuate rapidly. Most assessments, such as the twice yearly range monitoring carried out by the Red Squirrels Northern England Project (a partnership involving the Forestry Commission, Natural England, Northumberland Wildlife Trust and the Red Squirrel Survival Trust), are focused on measuring population trends rather than absolute numbers.
	Our red squirrel conservation strategy is based on conserving them where there remain viable populations. In the north of England, 17 carefully selected forest areas have been designated as red squirrel reserves. In these reserves and surrounding buffer zones (collectively known as strongholds), grey squirrel control is carried out and the forests are managed to discourage grey squirrel colonisation. This monitoring will tell us if our stronghold-based conservation strategy is working.

Squirrels

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how much his Department has spent on raising public awareness of the need to protect the red squirrel population since the start of 2013;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to increase public awareness of the need to protect the red squirrel population.

Richard Benyon: The Forestry Commission and Natural England are working together with the Red Squirrel Survival Trust and Northumberland Wildlife Trust to oversee the delivery of the Red Squirrels North England Project, which works for the benefit of red squirrels in the designated red squirrel strongholds.
	While the focus of this project is on grey squirrel control and other practical conservation work, it also raises public awareness. The project's website:
	www.rsne.org.uk
	and the events it organises help to improve awareness of the plight of the red squirrel.
	I attended a Cornwall Red Squirrel Project conference in Exeter in April to show our support for the work the project is doing to promote the interests of the red squirrel.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Shaker Aamer

Anas Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions she has had with her ministerial colleagues on the case of Shaker Aamer.

James Brokenshire: We continue to make clear to the US that we want Mr Aamer released and returned to the UK at the earliest opportunity. The Prime Minister raised this personally with President Obama last month. Discussions continue with senior officials within the US Administration.

Cyber-crime

James Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to tackle cyber-crime.

James Brokenshire: The Government is taking a number of steps to tackle online crime as part of the national cyber security strategy. This includes strengthening law enforcement capabilities by establishing the national cyber crime unit, which will lead the national and international response to tackling this issue. We will also be launching an awareness campaign in the autumn to highlight practical steps to improve online safety.

Domestic Violence

Stuart Andrew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to reduce domestic violence.

Theresa May: The Government's approach to tackling domestic violence and abuse is set out in our Call to End Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy and supporting action plan.
	Key initiatives include pilots to test Domestic Violence Protection Orders and a Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme. We have also ring-fenced nearly £40 million of stable funding for specialist local domestic and sexual violence support services until 2015.

Immigration: Housing

John Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she plans to take to ensure that landlords who have taken reasonable steps to verify a tenant's immigration status will not be penalised.

Mark Harper: If landlords can prove that they have conducted prescribed checks they will not be penalised. Our consultation proposals were published on 3 July. The Government intends to model these arrangements on the simple and well-established checks already conducted by employers. The Home Office will provide guidance and support services for landlords.

CCTV

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she plans to take to increase the use of CCTV where there is demand from communities.

James Brokenshire: The Government supports the effective use of CCTV to cut crime and protect the public. It is for local agencies to determine how best to deploy and use CCTV systems to meet local needs.

Foreign Criminals: Deportation

Michael McCann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what change there has been since June 2012 in the number of foreign criminals deported.

Mark Harper: In 2012, 4,589 foreign national offenders were removed from the UK. The annual removal rate has remained broadly constant since then.

Accountancy

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the names, job titles, area of work, term of appointment and Civil Service equivalent grade are of personnel currently seconded to her Department from the big four accountancy firms.

James Brokenshire: As at 31 May 2013 the Home Office had 299 secondees from external organisations. Details of the information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Drugs: Misuse

Margot James: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to reduce the use of legal highs.

Jeremy Browne: New psychoactive substances can present a significant risk to public health and people should not assume that they are either legal or safe to consume. We are forensically monitoring the emergence of new drugs in the UK and have banned many substances which have been proven to be harmful.

Immigration

Peter Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will take steps to revise the annual immigration statistics to ensure that they are provided with the latest census estimates of past immigration.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated July 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS). I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to revise the annual immigration statistics to ensure that they are provided with the latest census estimates of past immigration [HL 165718].
	Revised net migration, immigration and emigration figures have been published as components of change in revised mid-year population estimates from the year to mid-2002 to the year to mid-2010 for England and Wales. These take into account the results from the 2011 Census, and included a revision to the net migration component, focussed primarily on the middle part of the decade before improvements were made to the International Passenger Survey in 2009. This provides a revised series of net migration for the inter-censal period, which is shown in Table 1:
	
		
			 Table 1: Population estimates for England and Wales: Components of change for net international migration for the year to mid-2002 to the year to mid-2010 
			 Thousand 
			  Immigration Emigration Asylum seekers net migration Net migration 
			 2001-02 375 271 67 171 
			 2002-03 402 288 59 173 
			 2003-04 457 292 25 190 
			 2004-05 569 283 15 302 
			 2005-06 541 332 8 217 
			 2006-07 587 345 10 252 
			 2007-08 548 318 14 244 
			 2008-09 515 353 18 181 
			 2009-10 510 300 11 220 
			 Note: Net migration includes visitor and migrant switchers, plus asylum seeker net migration Source: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/about-ons/what-we-do/publication-scheme/published-ad-hoc-data/population/may-2013/mid-2002-to-2010-revised-components-of-change-for-england-and-wales.zip 
		
	
	ONS plans to publish a paper on the quality of international migration estimates from 2001 to 2011 in autumn 2013.

Vetting

David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for which classes of young people who are (a) UK citizens and (b) EU nationals resident temporarily in the UK those looking after them are not liable for Disclosure and Barring Service checks; and what the reasons are for any differences in such a policy based upon the nationality of the young people concerned.

James Brokenshire: The safety of young people is of equal importance regardless of their nationality and there is no difference in policy based on nationality. Legislation provides eligibility for criminal record checks for those working with young people, by reference to the activities being undertaken. The Disclosure and Barring Service provides guidance on eligibility that can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dbs-check-eligible-positions-guidance

Written Questions: Government Responses

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to answer (a) questions 163403, 163404 and 163513, tabled by the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North on 2 July 2013, for answer on 5 July 2013 and (b) question 164126, tabled by the hon. Member on 4 July 2013, for answer on 9 July 2013; and what the reason was for the time taken to answer each question.

Jeremy Browne: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave on 9 July 2013, Official Report, column147W (PQ 163403), column 150W (PQ 163404) and columns 150-51W (PQ 163513). PQ 164126 was answered on 10 July 2013, Official Report, column 261W.

TRANSPORT

Abellio Greater Anglia

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the level of annual payments (a) to Abellio from the Government and (b) from Abellio to the Government in respect of the Greater Anglia franchise in 2013-14 and in each year of that extended contract.

Simon Burns: Negotiations regarding any Direct Award for this franchise have yet to commence.
	Information on the annual payments between the Government and Abellio, in respect of this franchise, is published annually by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) on their data portal. This is available on the ORR's website at:
	http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk
	Figures available on the ORR website include up to 2011-12; the figures for 2012-13 are still being finalised before disclosure. Future annual payments including those for each year of the Direct Award are commercially sensitive and therefore will be published in arrears on the ORR website.

Arriva Trains Cross Country

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the level of annual payments (a) to Arriva from the Government and (b) from Arriva to the Government in respect of the Cross Country franchise in 2013-14 and in each year of that extended contract.

Simon Burns: Negotiations regarding any Direct Award for this franchise have yet to commence.
	Information on the annual payments between the Government and Arriva in respect of this franchise is published annually by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) on their data portal. This is available on the ORR's website at
	http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk
	Figures available on the ORR website include up to 2011-12; the figures for 2012-13 are still being finalised before disclosure. Future annual payments for each year of the Direct Awards are commercially sensitive and therefore will be published in arrears on the ORR website.

Arriva Trains Wales

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the level of annual payments (a) to Arriva from the Government and (b) from Arriva to the Government in respect of the Wales and Borders franchise in 2013-14 and in each year of that extended contract.

Simon Burns: The Wales and Borders Arriva Trains franchise will not undergo an extension but will continue on its existing contract until the start of the new franchise in October 2018.
	Information on the annual payments between the Government and Arriva in respect of this franchise is published annually by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) on their data portal. This is available on the ORR's website at
	http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk
	Figures available on the ORR website include up to 2011-12; the figures for 2012-13 are still being finalised before release. Future annual payments for each year of the contract are commercially sensitive and therefore will be published in arrears on the ORR website.

c2c

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the level of annual payments (a) to National Express from the Government and (b) from National Express to the Government in respect of the Essex Thameside franchise in 2013-14 and in each year of that contract.

Simon Burns: Contracted subsidy for the Direct Award agreement with c2c, owned by National Express, is £1.7 million. A profit share mechanism is in place, which will capture any outperformance in revenue, thereby lowering the subsidy requirement.
	Information on the annual payments between the Government and National Express, in respect of this franchise, is published annually by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) on their data portal. This is available on the ORR's website at:
	http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk
	Figures available on the ORR website include up to 2011-12; the figures for 2012-13 are still being finalised before release. Future annual payments for each year of the Direct Award are commercially sensitive and therefore will be published in arrears on the ORR website.

Caldervale Railway Line

Linda Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the pacer units will be phased out of service on the Caldervale railway line through Halifax.

Simon Burns: Rolling stock deployment is a matter for the train operators with the Government's role primarily focused on ensuring that this represents value-for-money when the taxpayer's interest is involved.
	The 'Pacer' units are owned by Porterbrook Leasing and Angel Trains and it is for them in conjunction with the operator to decide the operational life of these vehicles.
	Northern Rail and the future franchisee will therefore determine rolling stock requirements for routes within that franchise area, including the Calder Valley.

Consultants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much (a) he and (b) officials in his Department spent on external assistance to prepare for (i) appearances before select committees and (ii) contact with the media in (A) 2011-12 and (B) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Baker: The Department has not purchased any external assistance/training of this nature for Ministers over this period. Since 1 April 2011, the following external assistance/training for officials has been delivered to the Department for Transport (Central) and its executive agencies.
	
		
			 £ 
			  2011-12 spend 2012-13 spend 
			 Department for Transport (Central) 795.00 2,162.00 
			 Highways Agency 5,454.60 1,799.10 
			 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency 2,100.00 0 
			 Maritime and Coastguard Agency 283.00 2,324.00 
			 Vehicle and Operator Services Agency 474.00 0 
			 Driving Standards Agency 4,500.00 1,200.00 
			 Vehicle Certification Agency 0 0 
		
	
	The Department uses media and presentation training for those staff who may come into contact with the media or need specific presentation training, for example Accident Investigation Inspectors and Highways Traffic Officers. The training includes departmental, legal and propriety guidelines. The costs in the table include travel and expenses where appropriate.

Cycling

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to ensure that the Government and local authorities work together to ensure the Cycle to Work scheme helps to implement sustainable transport objectives.

Norman Baker: The Department for Transport actively encourages sustainable travel including cycling to work, and works closely with Local Authorities and other stakeholders to ensure that the Government's sustainable transport objectives are met. We have made funding available to Local Authorities through the £600m Local Sustainable Transport Fund, which with local contributions has released over £1bn to deliver a range of sustainable travel projects, and 94 of the 96 projects include cycling elements, including cycling to work.
	The Department also works in partnership with Business in the Community—whose members include Local Authorities, Transport for London, British Cycling and the Cycle to Work Alliance to increase cycling for work and commuting purposes, and to ensure that this supports the Department's wider aims to cut carbon and create growth.

Cycling

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to promote the Cycle to Work scheme.

Norman Baker: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I provided her on 21 May 2013, Official Report, column 702W.

Cycling

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  whether his Department's transport strategy due by December 2013 will set out how cycling will be increased to 10 per cent of travel in accordance with the ambition set by the Get Britain Cycling report;
	(2)  when the new cycling delivery plan will be published;
	(3)  if he will introduce a separate indicator for increased levels of cycling;
	(4)  for what reasons no target for increasing cycling in rural areas has been set within his Department's transport indicators.

Norman Baker: This Government is committed to getting more people to cycle, more safely, more often. Our commitment to cycling was expressly included in the Coalition Agreement.
	In the last 12 months we have allocated £107m of new money to support safety and community links that encourage more cycling. This is over and above the £600m Local Sustainable Transport Fund where 94 out of the 96 projects contain a cycling element. We have also introduced measures to make cycling safer, including flexibility for Local Authorities to introduce 20mph speed limits in residential areas and a process for applications for further rural 40mph zones. Furthermore, we have made it easier to install Trixi mirrors to improve the visibility of cyclists at junctions.
	We are supporting the increase of cycling in both rural and urban areas. In February 2013, applications were invited from National Parks and cities for the £42m Cycling Ambition Grants. Successful bids will receive a cycling budget equivalent to £10 per head, which is the level of support the Get Britain Cycling report recommends. An announcement of successful bids will be happening over the summer.
	We welcome the Get Britain Cycling inquiry and report and will be responding to the recommendations in full shortly.

East Midlands Trains

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the level of annual payments (a) to Stagecoach from the Government and (b) from Stagecoach to the Government in respect of the East Midlands franchise in 2013-14 and in each year of that extended contract.

Simon Burns: Decisions on the annual payments between the Government and East Midlands Trains, owned by Stagecoach, for the period of the Direct Award beginning April 2015 have not yet been finalised.
	Information on the annual payments between the Government and Stagecoach, in respect of this franchise, is published annually by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) on their data portal. This is available on the ORR's website at:
	http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk
	Figures available on the ORR website include up to 2011-12; the figures for 2012-13 are still being finalised before release. Future annual payments including those for each year of the Direct Award are commercially sensitive and therefore will be published in arrears on the ORR website.

First Capital Connect

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the level of annual payments (a) to FirstGroup from the Government and (b) from FirstGroup to the Government in respect of the Thameslink franchise in 2013-14 and in each year of that contract.

Simon Burns: Information on the annual payments between the Government and FirstGroup, in respect of this franchise, is published annually by the Office of Rail Regulation (QRR) on their data portal. This is available on the ORR's website at:
	http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk
	Figures available on the ORR website include up to 2011-12; the figures for 2012-13 are still being finalised before disclosure. Future annual payments for each year of that contract are commercially sensitive and therefore will be published in arrears on the ORR website.

First Great Western

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the level of annual payments (a) to FirstGroup from the Government and (b) from FirstGroup to the Government in respect of the Great Western franchise in 2013-14 and in each year of that extended contract.

Simon Burns: The Direct Award negotiations are still ongoing between the Department and FirstGroup.
	Information on the annual payments between the Government and FirstGroup, in respect of this franchise, is published annually by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) on their data portal. This is available on the ORR's website at:
	http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk
	Figures available on the ORR website include up to 2011-12; the figures for 2012-13 are still being finalised before release. Future annual payments will be published in arrears on the ORR website.

First TransPennine Express

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the level of annual payments (a) to TransPennine Express from the Government and (b) from TransPennine Express to the Government in respect of the TransPennine franchise in 2013-14 and in each year of that extended contract.

Simon Burns: Decisions on the annual payments between the Government and TransPennine Express for the period of the Direct Award beginning April 2015 have not yet been finalised.
	Information on the annual payments between the Government and TransPennine Express is published annually by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) on their data portal. This is available on the ORR's website at:
	http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk
	Figures available on the ORR website include up to 2011-12; the figures for 2012-13 are still being finalised before disclosure. Future annual payments including those for each year of the Direct Award are commercially sensitive and therefore will be published in arrears on the ORR website.

Govia

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the level of annual payments (a) to Govia from the Government and (b) from Govia to the Government in respect of the London Midland franchise in 2013-14 and in each year of that extended contract.

Simon Burns: Decisions on the annual payments between the Government and London Midland, owned by Govia, for the period of the Direct Award beginning September 2015 have not yet been finalised.
	Information on the annual payments between the Government and Govia, in respect of this franchise, is published annually by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) on their data portal. This is available on the ORR's website at:
	http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk
	Figures available on the ORR website include up to 2011-12; the figures for 2012-13 are still being finalised before release. Future annual payments including those for each year of the Direct Award are commercially sensitive and therefore will be published in arrears on the ORR website.

Govia

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the level of annual payments (a) to Govia from the Government and (b) from Govia to the Government in respect of the Southern franchise in 2013-14 and in each year of that extended contract.

Simon Burns: Services currently operated by Govia and covered by the Southern franchise are due to merge with Thameslink and Great Northern services in July 2015 to form the TSGN franchise. As such, there is no contract extension planned for the Southern franchise.
	Information on the annual payments between the Government and Govia in respect of this franchise is published annually by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) on their data portal. This is available on the ORR's website at:
	http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk
	Figures available on the ORR website include up to 2011-12; the figures for 2012-13 are still being finalised before disclosure. Future annual payments for each year of the contract are commercially sensitive and therefore will be published in arrears on the ORR website.

Northern Rail

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the level of annual payments to (a) Abellio and (b) Serco from the Government and from (i) Abellio and (ii) Serco to the Government in respect of the Northern franchise in 2013-14 and in each year of that extended contract.

Simon Burns: Decisions on the annual payments between the Government and Northern Rail, owned by Abellio/Serco, for the period of the Direct Award beginning April 2014 have not yet been finalised.
	Information on the annual payments between the Government and Abellio/Serco, in respect of this franchise, is published annually by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) on their data portal. This is available on the ORR's website at:
	http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk
	Figures available on the ORR website include up to 2011-12; the figures for 2012-13 are still being finalised before disclosure. Future annual payments including those for each year of the Direct Award are commercially sensitive and therefore will be published in arrears on the ORR website.

Railways: Finance

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what payments First Great Western has made to the Exchequer in each financial year since April 2004; and what payments First Great Western has received from the public purse in each such year;
	(2)  what payments East Coast has made to the Exchequer in each financial year since April 2004; and what payments East Coast received from the public purse in each such year;
	(3)  what payments Chiltern has made to the Exchequer in each financial year since April 2004; and what payments Chiltern has received from the public purse in each such year;
	(4)  what payments East Midlands Trains has made to the Exchequer in each financial year since April 2004; and what payments East Midlands Trains has received from the public purse in each such year;
	(5)  what payments c2c train operating company has made to the Exchequer in each financial year since April 2004; and what payments c2c has received from the public purse in each such year.

Norman Baker: Information on the net annual payments between Government and Train Operating Companies is published annually by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) on their data portal. This is available on the ORR's website at
	http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk

Railways: Franchises

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what passenger representation there has been in his Department's negotiations to award extensions to existing rail franchises.

Simon Burns: The Department has engaged, and will continue to do so, with Passenger Focus and London Travel Watch as well as any other local representatives to ensure that the passenger's views are taken into consideration when making the direct awards.

Roads: Shrewsbury

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to assess the feasibility of completing the North West relief ring road around Shrewsbury;
	(2)  if he will visit Shrewsbury to assess the need for completion of the ring road around the town;
	(3)  what steps he is taking to work with Shropshire council on completing the ring road around Shrewsbury.

Norman Baker: It is for the local highway authority, in this case Shropshire Council, to assess the need for, and feasibility of, the completion of the ring road and to take forward any subsequent proposals.

South West Trains

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the level of annual payments (a) to Stagecoach from the Government and (b) from Stagecoach to the Government in respect of the South West franchise in 2013-14 and in each year of that contract.

Simon Burns: Information on the annual payments between the Government and Stagecoach, in respect of this franchise, is published annually by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) on their data portal. This is available on the ORR's website at:
	http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk
	Figures available on the ORR website include up to 2011-12; the figures for 2012-13 are still being finalised before disclosure. Future annual payments for each year of the contract are commercially sensitive and therefore will be published in arrears on the ORR website.

Southeastern

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the level of annual payments (a) to Southeastern from the Government and (b) from Southeastern to the Government in respect of the Integrated Kent franchise in 2013-14 and in each year of that contract.

Simon Burns: Information on the annual payments between the Government and Southeastern, in respect of this franchise, is published annually by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) on their data portal. This is available on the ORR's website at:
	http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk
	Figures available on the ORR website include up to 2011-12; the figures for 2012-13 are still being finalised before release. Future annual payments for each year of the contract are commercially sensitive and therefore will be published in arrears on the ORR website.

Virgin Trains

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what payments Virgin Trains has made to the Exchequer in each financial year since April 2004; and what payments Virgin Trains has received from public funds in each such year.

Norman Baker: holding answer 11 July 2013
	Virgin Rail Group has been awarded two franchises by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) and The Department for Transport (DfT) since 1997. These are:
	West Coast Main Line—Trading as West Coast Trains limited
	Cross Country Route—Trading as Virgin Cross Country Limited (ended November 2007)
	Payments to the SRA and DfT for each financial year since April 2004 are detailed below for each operated franchise.
	Subsidies are payments by SRA and DfT to Virgin Group while premiums are payments by Virgin Group to SRA and DfT. The amounts quoted are inclusive of all payments and receipts.
	Subsidies paid/(premiums) received:
	
		
			 £ million 
			  Virgin West Coast Virgin Cross Country 
			 2004/05 89.8 118.5 
			 2005/06 92.5 150.6 
			 2006/07 221.3 230.7 
			 2007/08 161.6 129.7 
			 2008/09 (71.6) — 
			 2009/10 50 — 
			 2010/11 (167.9) — 
			 2011/12 (165.7) — 
			 2012/13 (96.8) — 
		
	
	This updates information provided to the hon. Member for the City of Durham (Roberta Blackman-Woods) on 6 June, Official Report, columns 1225-6W, UIN 158132.
	Further information on franchise payments may be found on ORR National Trends Annual data publications:
	http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/nav.1863

Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many answers to Parliamentary Questions involving tables of statistics fewer than four pages in length were (a) printed in full and (b) provided via a weblink to a website in the last year.

Norman Baker: The requested information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance his Department follows in determining whether, when answers to Parliamentary Questions which include statistics, those statistics are (a) provided in full, (b) provided via a weblink to a website and (c) placed in the Library.

Norman Baker: The Office of the Leader of the House provides guidance to all Departments on the practice of answering parliamentary questions by reference to Government websites.
	The full Guide is available on the Cabinet Office website at:
	http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work
	A copy of the guidance relating to referring to websites has already been placed in the Library and the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons intends to review the Guide to Parliamentary Work later this year.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Catering

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will provide a list of all catering outlets available in his Department's buildings.

Brandon Lewis: Eland House in Victoria has one canteen and one coffee bar, for staff and visitors:
	Temple Quay House in Bristol has one canteen.
	DCLG has held a 'nil subsidy' policy for our canteens since May 2010 and the facilities are run at no cost to taxpayers.
	We do not centrally hold information on our local offices which we share with other agencies, where the facilities management is run by other partners.

Empty Property: Second Homes

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many empty homes were redesignated as second homes in the last financial year. [R]

Brandon Lewis: This information is not held centrally.
	The decision on whether a property is empty or a second home for council tax is for billing authorities. For the purpose of council tax, a property cannot simply be “re-designated”—there must be a substantive and material change to its occupation and/or furnishing. Specific definitions and tests are set out in law. It is a criminal offence to make a false declaration to a local authority.

Fire Services

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he has taken steps to ensure that retained fire stations are able to mobilise fire engines despite shortages of staff.

Brandon Lewis: It is for each fire and rescue authority to ensure the adequacy of its operational response to incidents. Each fire and rescue authority is required to produce an integrated risk management plan identifying and assessing the risks facing its communities, and to demonstrate how their resources will be used to mitigate these.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will make an assessment of the effects on levels of rent arrears reported by registered social landlords in (a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) each region of England in (i) April 2012, (ii) May 2012, (iii) June 2012, (iv) April 2013, (v) May 2013 and (vi) June 2013 of the changes made in housing benefit rules which took effect on 1 April 2013.

Mark Prisk: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 8 July 2013, Official Report, column 33W.
	My Department is only responsible for social housing in England.

Local Government Finance

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the effect on the level of local authority budgets of (a) food testing and (b) flood management; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: Local authorities set their own budgets and it is not possible for my Department to assess their effect on particular activities.
	Local authorities provide annual monitoring returns to the Food Standards Agency on food law enforcement activity, including details of food testing undertaken. These are published by the Food Standards Agency.
	The Flood and Water Management Act 2010 places responsibilities on lead local flood authorities (county and unitary councils), and the Government is committed to funding local authorities for their flood and coastal erosion risk management.

Local Government Finance: Industrial Health and Safety

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department has provided to local authorities for the purpose of enforcing occupational safety and health in each of the last five years; how this amount was calculated; and how much of the funding provided was used by local authorities for this purpose.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 12 July 2013
	Occupational safety and health is one of the services funded through the Local Government Finance Settlement each year. Funding provided via the Settlement is unhypothecated. This means that authorities are free to spend it on any service. For this reason it is not possible to say how much funding has been provided for any particular service.

Local Government Finance: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much general revenue funding has been allocated to City of York council for services other than education in 2009-10 and in each year since then in (a) cash and (b) real terms.

Mark Prisk: Details of central Government revenue funding for all local authorities for this year are set out on our website at:
	www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1314/settle.htm
	Formula grant funding for all local authorities since 2009-10 can be found at:
	www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/ssas.htm
	Real terms allocations can be calculated by applying price indices available from the Office for National Statistics at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/cpi/consumer-price-indices/may-2013/cpi-time-series-data.html

Mobile Phones

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which companies supply (a) mobile telephones and (b) mobile data services to his Department.

Brandon Lewis: Under the Government Mobile Solutions (11) Framework Agreement with Vodafone, the Department has access to its mobile data services and also uses some services from Everything Everywhere for its residual devices.
	This Government has sought to consolidate contracts and suppliers to deliver better value for money and we intend to shift to Vodafone in due course.
	We will also continue with limited use of Everything Everywhere for mobile telephony purposes; this is for resilience staff working in remote areas where a Vodafone signal is not available.

Non-domestic Rates

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many applications his Department has (a) received and (b) approved from local authorities to collect an additional business rate levy on retail businesses with rateable values over £500,000.

Brandon Lewis: The Department has received no such applications.

Non-domestic Rates: Surrey

Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many businesses in (a) Woking constituency and (b) Surrey have taken advantage of the doubling of small business rate relief since 2010.

Brandon Lewis: Details of the number of businesses in Woking and Surrey that were benefiting from the Small Business Rate Relief Scheme as at 31 December 2010 are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Number of businesses paying the lower multiplier and receiving a discount Number of businesses paying the lower multiplier and not receiving a discount Total number of businesses benefiting from the Small Business Rate Relief Scheme as at 31 December 2010 
			 Surrey 6,903 862 7,765 
			 Of which:    
			 Elmbridge 801 90 891 
			 Epsom and Ewell 371 35 406 
			 Guildford 698 61 759 
			 Mole Valley 725 79 804 
			 Reigate and Banstead 770 23 793 
			 Runnymede 546 72 618 
			 Spelthorne 504 44 548 
			 Surrey Heath 456 132 588 
			 Tandridge 766 111 877 
			 Waverley 834 123 957 
			 Woking 432 92 524 
		
	
	Data as at 31 December 2012 were collected earlier this year and are currently being validated and will be published in the autumn. Data are collected at billing authority level; we do not collect data at constituency level.
	Thanks to the temporary extension of small business rate relief until April 2014, we estimate that approximately half a million businesses in England are benefiting, with approximately a third of a million paying no rates at all. The Localism Act 2011 has also made it easier for eligible small firms to claim their small business rate relief.

Plastics: Recycling

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department is taking to encourage wider collection of recyclable plastics from households.

Brandon Lewis: In November 2012, the Department for Communities and Local Government announced successful bidders to its £250 million Weekly Collection Support Scheme. Funding is being allocated between 2012 and 2015. This scheme encourages weekly collections of residual waste and improvements to recycling services.
	Local authorities could apply for funding to enhance recycling services for plastics or other materials. Successful bids included those from:
	Cornwall council which is using its funding to introduce (i) a new kerbside collection of mixed plastics and (ii) the collection of bulky plastics such as pipework and garden furniture from its household waste recycling centres;
	Dudley metropolitan borough council which is using its funding to introduce a borough-wide kerbside recycling service for plastic bottles; and
	East Cambridgeshire district council which is using its funding to expand the range of household materials collected to include mixed plastics.
	The Weekly Collection Support Scheme is also funding 40 local authorities to introduce or expand recycling reward schemes which give incentives for residents to recycle their waste. Many of these schemes will encourage wider collection of recyclable plastics from households.
	The Department for Communities and Local Government will be working with local authorities, the waste industry and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to take forward the innovation being championed by the Weekly Collection Support Scheme where plastic recycling from households and other service improvements are concerned.

Plastics: Recycling

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department is taking to encourage the development of plastics recycling infrastructure in the UK.

Brandon Lewis: National planning policy for waste management from the Department for Communities and Local Government sets the framework for local authorities to decide through their local plans on the most appropriate strategy for managing waste in their area; and to ensure that there are sufficient waste management facilities of the right type, in the right place and at the right time to meet their waste needs. The policy approach drives waste management up the waste hierarchy so that more waste, through recycling, is used as a resource, rather than waste going to landfill.
	In November 2012, the Department for Communities and Local Government also announced successful bidders to its £250 million Weekly Collection Support Scheme. Funding is being allocated between 2012 and 2015. This scheme encourages weekly collections of residual waste and improvements to recycling services.
	The scheme offered support for local authorities that needed to bridge the gap in terms of up front investment for new recycling infrastructure. Local authorities could therefore apply for funding to develop infrastructure for recycling plastics. Successful bids included those from:
	Bournemouth borough council which is using its funding to build and operate a strategic local waste management facility that will process the range of co-mingled recyclable materials (including plastics) collected by all partnering authorities;
	The London borough of Hillingdon which is using its funding to build a bulking facility which will allow the range of dry recyclables collected each week to be increased further. Feedback from residents groups has indicated they wish to recycle more plastic;
	Leicester city council which is using its funding to develop additional Household Waste Recycling Centre provision. This will offer residents the opportunity to recycle a wider range of materials (including plastics) as well as providing reuse facilities and opportunities for trade waste.

Press: Subscriptions

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department spent on newspapers, periodicals and trade publications in the last 12 months.

Brandon Lewis: My Department spent £61,605 (inc VAT where relevant) in 2012-13 on newspapers and magazines.
	Previously DCLG spent £136,892 in 2008-09 and £113,308 in 2009-10 which was cut to £62,074 in 2011-12, including the consolidating of the seven different sets of newspapers for Ministers each day to just one.
	In addition under the shared serviced arrangement, the proportion of journals purchased by us for the Department for Transport are reimbursed by them and currently this is around £2,900 per annum.

Public Expenditure

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what ideas from his Tree of Ideas scheme were (a) implemented and (b) not implemented.

Brandon Lewis: My Department does not have a ‘tree of ideas’ and has never had a ‘tree of ideas’. However, a new employee reward scheme which encourages staff to put forward cost saving ideas was recently launched.

Serco

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department currently spends on contracts with Serco; and how much was spent in each year since 2008.

Brandon Lewis: My Department currently has no contracts with Serco. The following table sets out the amounts spent by my Department previously on contracts with Serco.
	
		
			 Financial year Amount (£)(1) 
			 2008-09 2,704,235 
			 2009-10 471,007 
			 2010-11 70,715 
			 2011-12 87,807 
			 2012-13 Nil 
			 (1) Including VAT where relevant 
		
	
	On the wider efficiency and reform agenda, our third party spend for the core DCLG department with suppliers has reduced from £314 million in 2009-10 and £223 million in 2010-11 to £155 million in 2011-12 and down to £136 million in 2012-13. This represents a saving of 57% over that period.

Sky Lanterns: Cheshire

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many fires caused by Chinese lanterns have been recorded in (a) Warrington and (b) Cheshire in each of the last three years.

Brandon Lewis: This information is not held centrally.
	It is however estimated that fire and rescue authorities have typically attended in recent years around 200 incidents involving sky lanterns each year across the whole of England. Almost all of these have caused minimal damage.
	Over the four years since the introduction of the new fire and rescue incident recording system in 2009, records show that, prior to the recent fire at Smethwick, only one such fire affected a building, none caused any casualties, and that they have accounted for 0.2% of all outdoor fire incidents.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what equipment his Department intends to donate to the Government of Afghanistan when British troops withdraw from that country.

Andrew Robathan: As UK operations in Afghanistan draw down, operational commanders are identifying the equipment and materiel that is no longer required. Once identified as surplus, a decision is made on whether to redeploy, sell, gift or destroy the equipment. The gifting of equipment and materiel to the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) will generally be co-ordinated with ISAF. The underlying requirement is that all gifted equipment is sustainable in terms of cost of ownership, support and enduring training.
	Thus far approval has been granted to gift various check points, ‘sangers’ (military turrets), logistic support bridges and some medical supplies.
	All proposals for gifting equipment follow parliamentary, Treasury and National Audit Office rules and will be assessed against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. Any proposed gifting, packages to the ANSF over £250,000 will be laid before Parliament.

Armed Forces: Deployment

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how much his Department expects to pay in to the deployed military activity pool in each year to 2015-16;
	(2)  how much his Department has paid in to the deployed military activity pool in the last 12 months.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 10 July 2013
	In financial year (FY) 2012-13 MOD spent £7 million on operations to support the French-led intervention in Mali from funds that were allocated to the Deployed Military Activity Pool (DMAP). Our Main Supply Estimate for FY 2013-14 requested £25 million for the DMAP, to be matched by a further £25 million from HM Treasury. The contributions of each Department in future years have not been fixed, and may change from year to year in response to changes in operational requirements.

Armed Forces: Pay

Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the annual pay settlement for the armed forces was between 1997 and 2010.

Philip Dunne: The following table shows the annual pay settlement in each year from 1997 to 2010, as recommended by the two relevant independent review bodies. The Armed Forces Pay Review Body (AFPRB) recommends pay levels for Service personnel up to and including 1-Star officers. Pay settlements for 2-Star officers and above are recommended by the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB).
	
		
			 Percentage 
			 Financial year AFPRB settlement(1) SSRB settlement 
			 2010-11 2.0 0 
			 2009-10 2.8 2.8 
			 2008-09 2.6 2.2 
			 2007-08 3.3 2.0 
			 2006-07 3.0 3.0 
			 2005-06 3.0 2.5 
			 2004-05 2.8 2.8 
			 2003-04 3.2 2.25 
			 2002-03 3.7 2.5 
			 2001-02 3.7 3.7 
			 2000-01 3.3 3.3 
			 1999-2000 3.5 3.3 
			 1998-99 3.75 (Differential up to 3.5) 
			 1997-98 3.0 (Differential up to 6.0) 
			 (1) The table shows the main pay settlements. In some years exceptions were made which focused on awarding higher increases to the lowest paid, although for simplicity these are not shown here.

Consultants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much (a) he and (b) officials in his Department spent on external assistance to prepare for (i) appearances before select committees and (ii) contact with the media in (A) 2011-12 and (B) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Hammond: I have not engaged any external assistance to prepare for appearances before select committees, or media contacts. The information for officials is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Defence: Procurement

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to ensure that the three services have sufficient trained capability managers.

Mark Francois: Capability management is a well established process within Defence, and appointments in this area are highly sought after, with many incumbents having previous capability management experience, Those who are newly appointed to capability management posts are required to undertake mandatory specialised training courses soon after commencing their new position.
	In order to ensure that capability management training remains fit for purpose, the Defence Academy is currently undertaking a training needs analysis.

Food

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of all food procured for his Department was sourced from (a) British producers, (b) small and medium-sized enterprises and (c) producers which met British buying standards in the latest period for which figures are available.

Philip Dunne: For armed forces personnel serving on operations, overseas exercises and Her Majesty's ships there is a single food supply contract with Purple Foodservice Solutions Ltd (PFS). PFS lists approximately 1,150 different food-related items for the armed forces in the core range price list. Currently, they estimate that approximately 60% of lines listed, excluding fresh produce, are sourced from suppliers within the UK. The percentage of UK produced goods changes regularly as a result of seasonality, value for money incentives and changes of supplier.
	Ministry of Defence (MOD) personnel in the UK and permanent bases overseas are primarily catered for through a number of catering, retail, leisure and other multi-activity contracts to deliver catering and other services. Information on the proportion of food procured from UK food producers under these arrangements is not held by the MOD.
	The MOD is bound by European Union public procurement directives which demand fair and open competition for all food contracts involving the expenditure of public funds. The directives do not permit the MOD to specify only British products or to only source products from a particular region.
	All food procured for MOD personnel must comply with MOD food quality standards. These standards comply with all UK and EU production standards, Farm Assurance or equivalent.

Reserve Forces: Dorset

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the statement of 3 July 2013, Official Report, column 923, on Reserve forces, what the effect of such changes will be in Dorset.

Andrew Robathan: The restructuring of the Army Reserve will have an impact across the United Kingdom and documents setting out the detail, showing both the current and future location of units, have been placed in the Library of the House.
	These documents confirm the following changes to Army Reserve Forces in Dorset:
	The Royal Wessex Yeomanry, A (Dorset Yeomanry) Squadron—this squadron will re-role to become the Headquarters Squadron but will remain in Bovington. There is no change to the Regimental Headquarters which is also located in Bovington.
	6th Battalion The Rifles, C Company—the Company Headquarters moves from Dorchester to Poole to combine with an existing detachment. A reduced presence will be maintained in Dorchester.

Shipbuilding

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he last met BAE Systems to discuss skills levels in the UK shipbuilding sector.

Philip Hammond: Defence Ministers meet regularly with BAE Systems to discuss a range of issues, including those relating to UK shipbuilding.

Shipbuilding

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the contribution to the wider economy of shipbuilding for the Royal Navy in each of the (a) last five years and (b) next five years.

Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has not assessed the contribution its expenditure makes to the wider economy.
	It is considered, however, that the MOD's expenditure in the maritime sector has a positive economic impact. As stated in UK Defence Statistics 2012, expenditure in the UK on shipbuilding and repair, including submarines, in the five years from 2006-07 to 2010-11 was some £8.7 billion (VAT exclusive at current prices). The Defence Equipment Plan, published in January 2013,states that we plan to spend some £17 billion on surface ships and £35.8 billion on submarines and our nuclear deterrent programmes over the next 10 years.

Shipbuilding

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent progress he has made on plans to build two new offshore patrol vessels; and if he will make a statement.

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer given to the hon. Member for New Forest East on 13 February 2013, Official Report, column 766W, on warships, what progress has been made between his Department and BAE on the Terms of Business Agreement; and what consideration he has given to the potential construction of two offshore patrol vessels in Portsmouth to tackle concerns about a potential skills gap developing in that workforce;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the size of workforce and the skills mix required in that workforce to deliver the Type 26 frigate over the lifetime of the planned programme;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the number of shipbuilding jobs in the defence sector required to deliver the vessels for the Royal Navy currently planned for (a) 2015, (b) 2020 and (c) 2025.

Philip Dunne: The Terms of Business Agreement (TOBA) entered into between the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and BAE Systems in 2009 requires the company to transform and rationalise its shipbuilding capacity in a manner that sustains specific key industrial capabilities. This includes the maintenance of skills in the areas of production, direct support staff and design/engineering.
	The MOD is working closely with the company to explore how best to sustain its shipbuilding capability, to deliver the future shipbuilding programme for the Royal Navy. The discussions are ongoing; ultimately, however, decisions regarding the size and skills of the workforce needed to deliver the shipbuilding programme are a matter for BAE Systems.
	With regard to the offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), I refer the hon. Members to my answer of 14 February 2013, Official Report, column 833W.

USA

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) British citizens and (b) former British citizens have been killed in airstrikes initiated by US armed forces in the last 10 years.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 3 June 2013
	We do not hold comprehensive information on this subject.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Accountancy

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department spent on contracts with (a) Deloitte, (b) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (c) KPMG and (d) Ernst and Young in each year since 2008.

Hugh Robertson: The amount spent with each of these firms is set out in the table.
	
		
			 £ 
			  2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Deloitte 160,514 108,789 — — 112,800 
			 PriceWaterhouseCoopers 58,581 153,459 41,984 35,990 15,570 
			 KPMG — — — 2,872,170 2,513,180 
			 Ernst & Young — — 1,302,000 773,320 — 
		
	
	The on-going expenditure with KPMG is for support to Broadband Delivery UK. Ernst & Young was predominantly paid for advisory work on the sale of the Tote, and the costs were recovered from the sale proceeds. Deloitte worked with the Finance Team in 2012-13 to deliver the first group financial statements.

Arts: Rural Areas

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to maintain access to the arts in rural communities.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 14 May 2013
	Arts Council England is the independent organisation that distributes Government funding, and Lottery investment, in the arts. The Arts Council is an arm's length body of my Department and sets it strategy for promoting engagement with the arts independently of Government. However, I am pleased that the Arts Council has put in place internal mechanisms for determining its budget allocations across the regions, prioritising those areas with limited opportunity for engagement, irrespective of their classification as urban or rural; and that its Grants for the Arts programme has been reviewed to ensure that decisions take account of the need for provision in rural areas.
	A number of Arts Council programmes make a significant contribution to maintaining and increasing access to the arts in rural communities: for example, the £37 million Creative People and Places programme targeting areas of low engagement, including rural areas; the £45 million Strategic Touring programme encouraging collaboration between theatre organisations to target places which rely on touring for much of their arts provision; and the Arts Council will invest £6.5 million between 2012 and 2015 in 17 National Portfolio Organisations which tour in rural areas.

Broadband

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 3 June 2013, Official Report, column 801W, on broadband, whether the UK is on track to meet the EU 2020 broadband targets.

Edward Vaizey: Central and local Government has currently committed to invest £1.6 billion in the Government's broadband programme, which will see a transformation of broadband services in the UK. The latest Government announcement in the 'Investing in Britain's Future' to superfast broadband provision from current coverage plans so that 95% of UK premises will have access to superfast broadband by 2017 and to explore with industry how to expand coverage further, using more innovative fixed, wireless and mobile broadband solutions, to reach at least 99% of premises in the UK by 2018; and with pace of take up of superfast broadband currently at 50,000 connections per week the UK is making significant progress toward meeting the EU 2020 targets.

Broadband

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the target coverage is for broadband for each (a) local authority, (b) nation of the UK and (c) contractor employed by BD:UK

Edward Vaizey: The Government wants to see a transformation of broadband services in the UK by 2015 and has a target of 90% of UK premises having superfast broadband available to them as a result of the current rural broadband programme. The programme has allocated funding for projects on the basis of this level of coverage being achieved in each local authority area. The Government also announced on 27 June 2013 that it was providing a further £250 million with the aim of increasing coverage of superfast broadband to 95% by 2017.

Broadband

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 24 June 2013, Official Report , column 114W, on broadband, what assistance her Department provides to urban areas to compensate for economically-viable broadband fibre optic cabinets.

Edward Vaizey: The Super Connected Cities Programme will not provide direct assistance to cities regarding fibre broadband cabinets. However, the Government is working with some of the cities participating in the programme, to undertake market testing of a scheme to distribute connections vouchers to SMEs to help them pay for the cost of connecting to high-speed and high quality broadband. These connections could be delivered by a range of different suppliers using either wired or wireless technologies. If successful, this scheme will be made available to all the cities in the programme.

Broadband Delivery UK

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much Broadband Delivery UK requires in annual funding for it to carry out its responsibilities.

Edward Vaizey: Broadband Delivery UK's administration funding to carry out its responsibilities is £9.8 million in 2013-14 and £5.9 million in 2014-15. Any additional administration funding required following the further £250 million announced in the spending review to extend superfast broadband coverage to 95% of premises is yet to be agreed.

Broadband Delivery UK

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding her Department is providing through Broadband Delivery UK to help meet her Department's objectives for change in broadband provision in the UK.

Edward Vaizey: To help meet the Department's objectives for a change in broadband provision in the UK, Broadband Delivery UK has been allocated funding of £530 million for the Rural Broadband Programme and £150 million for the Super Connected Cities Programme. It also has £150 million allocated for the Mobile Infrastructure Project. A further £250 million was announced in ‘Investing in Britain's Future’, published as part of the spending review in June 2013, in order to deliver superfast broadband coverage to 95% of premises in the UK by 2017.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what budget her Department set for the rollout of broadband in rural areas; what target dates were set for the rollout; how much the rollout has cost to date; what the estimated total cost of the rollout is; and what her latest estimate is of completion dates for the rollout.

Edward Vaizey: The Department has a budget of £530 million to support roll-out of broadband in rural areas, to provide 90% superfast broadband coverage by 2016 and universal access to standard broadband. This funding will be supported by further local and European funding to provide total public investment of about £1.2 billion. It is estimated that approximately a further £350 million of funding will be provided by the private sector. A further £250 million of Government funding was announced in ‘Investing in Britain's Future’, published as part of the Spending Review in June 2013, in order to deliver superfast broadband coverage to 95% of premises in the UK by 2017, provided it is matched with other local funding. The Department has transferred £9.7 million to date to support project rollout.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking (a) to ensure that there is sufficient competition in the process of tendering contracts for the rollout of broadband in rural areas and (b) to ensure that the contracts let to BT are securing the best value for the public purse.

Edward Vaizey: BDUK has procured a framework agreement for the delivery of rural broadband projects, and local bodies are able to call-off this framework. The framework was procured after an extensive period of market engagement and consultation, and at the end of the competitive procurement process the suppliers BT and Fujitsu were appointed to the framework in June 2012. Local bodies could choose to run a procurement independent of the framework and some local bodies have chosen to run an independent procurement process. Most local bodies have taken advantage of the reduced time and cost benefits from using the framework. Any supplier who is successful in winning public-funded contracts for broadband deployment will be subject to state aid rules, which require that they provide effective wholesale access to their network to promote competition from other providers of superfast broadband.
	BDUK has designed the call-off contracts to transfer the majority of risks associated with delivery and operation of broadband networks to the private sector. Local bodies' use of the gap fund model has reduced cost to the public sector. BDUK performs various assurance activities on supplier bids prior to contract signature, and has ensured that the contracts contain the necessary commercial mechanisms to protect value for the public sector.

Broadband: Sunderland

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent estimate she has made of the number of people in Sunderland who live in areas with low-speed broadband.

Edward Vaizey: Ofcom data from the Communications Infrastructure Report 2012 stated that 86% of customers in Sunderland did have access to broadband services with speeds above two megabits per second. See:
	http://maps.ofcom.org.uk/broadband
	Commercial provision of broadband services in Sunderland since the time of the Ofcom study may well have led to more premises being able to access services.
	For those areas that the market will not deliver to unaided, the Durham, Gateshead, Sunderland and Tees Valley local broadband project, with £9.88 million of support from the Broadband Delivery UK rural programme, is designed to ensure that over 90% of premises can receive services on superfast infrastructure and that all premises have a basic broadband service of over 2 Mbit/s available.

Consultants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much (a) she and (b) officials in her Department spent on external assistance to prepare for (i) appearances before select committees and (ii) contact with the media in (A) 2011-12 and (B) 2012-13; and if she will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: Neither myself nor my officials spent anything on external assistance when appearing before select committees or on contact with the media on behalf of DCMS, which includes the Government Equalities Office.

Equality

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much has been spent by her Department (a) in total and (b) on staff costs on promoting equality and diversity in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and how many people are employed by her Department for this purpose.

Hugh Robertson: DCMS is mindful of the need to promote equality and draw the best from a diverse work force. While there are individuals who have responsibility for promoting equality and diversity, this is in addition to their other duties. The Department is unable to break down the figures to show how much was spent on the equality and diversity aspect of their role. The Government Equalities Office works to take action on the Government's commitment to remove barriers to equality and help to build a fairer society, leading on issues relating to women, sexual orientation and transgender equalities. In this broader sense the whole of the staff of GEO and its programme spend is devoted to promoting equality and diversity.

Motor Sports

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the value of the motorsport industry and community rallies to tourism in the UK.

Hugh Robertson: I have made no assessment of the value of the motorsport industry and community rallies to tourism in the UK. However, I recognise the importance of events such as Wales Rally GB and the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, which help support both local and wider UK visitor economies. The motor sport industry makes an important broader contribution to the UK economy, with an estimated annual turnover of £6 billion, £3.6 billion of which in exports, and employs 40,000 people working for 4,500 companies across the UK.

Public Libraries: Electronic Publishing

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what steps her Department is taking to encourage appropriate models for remote eBook lending in response to the recommendations of the Sieghart Review of eBook lending in libraries;
	(2)  what steps her Department is taking to implement the recommendations of the Sieghart Review of eBook lending in libraries in respect of extending public lending rights to eBooks.

Edward Vaizey: The Government commissioned an independent review of e-lending in public libraries in England last year and the panel, led by William Sieghart, recommended that Public Lending Right (PLR) be extended to cover loans of audiobooks and e-books borrowed from library premises and also remotely. On 26 June 2013, HM Treasury announced that in response to William Sieghart's recommendation that PLR be extended by commencing the provisions of the Digital Economy Act 2010; the Government will consult on plans to extend the PLR scheme to cover onsite loans of e-books and audiobooks, with loans data to be collected from July 2014:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spending-round-2013-documents
	As set out in the Government Response to William Sieghart's review:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/an-independent-review-of-e-lending-in-public-libraries-in-england
	any amendment the Government would seek to pursue in future to extend the Public Lending Right (PLR) scheme to incorporate remote e-lending is subject to considering whether that would be compatible with the copyright directive and this matter is under consideration.
	It is important to note that public libraries are able to lend e-books, both on library premises and remotely, without the PLR scheme being extended. Until such a time as the PLR scheme is extended, it will continue to be the responsibility of library authorities to reach appropriate agreements with non-print rights holders of those works, or with other parties on behalf of those rights holders, in order to license the lending of their non-print works.

Telephone Services

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether her Department receives any financial or non-financial benefit from its telephone providers for telephone lines that (a) her Department and (b) the agencies for which she is responsible operate, including but not limited to (i) a share of call revenue, (ii) a reduction in the Department's telephone bill or tariff and (iii) telephony services for free or at a reduced price.

Hugh Robertson: The Department does not receive any financial or non-financial benefit from its telephone provider for telephone lines. The Department does not hold this information for its agencies.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Alternatives to Prosecution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many Crown Prosecution Service decisions not to dispose of a case out of court were judicially reviewed in 2012 and in each of the five preceding years.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number of judicial reviews of decisions not to dispose of cases out of court. Obtaining this information would be possible only by examining individual case files at disproportionate cost.

Alternatives to Prosecution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many Crown Prosecution Service decisions not to prosecute were judicially reviewed in 2012 and in each of the five preceding years.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number of judicial reviews of decisions not to prosecute. Obtaining this information would be possible only by examining individual case files at disproportionate cost.

Alternatives to Prosecution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General pursuant to the answer of 27 June 2013, Official Report, column 349W, on alternatives to prosecution, how many of the cautions issued for child abuse offences were for (a) parental assault where reasonable chastisement is not a defence, (b) sexual offences, (c) child homicides, (d) child cruelty, including neglect, (e) child prostitution, (f) harassment, (g) abandonment of a child, (h) forced marriage involving an under 18 year old, (i) child pornography, (j) trafficking, (k) familial abduction and (l) historical child abuse where the victim is now an adult.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) figures provided in the answer of 27 June 2013, Official Report, column 349W, state the number of cases referred to the CPS for pre-charge decisions (PCDs) where the victim was under 18 years of age and the CPS prosecutor advised an out of court disposal. The CPS does not maintain central records of pre-charge decision outcomes for the sub-categories of offending requested. Obtaining this information would be possible only by examining individual advice files at disproportionate cost.

Crown Prosecution Service

Philip Davies: To ask the Attorney-General what recent discussions he has had with representatives of judges and magistrates on the performance of the Crown Prosecution Service.

Oliver Heald: The Attorney-General and I meet members of the judiciary regularly to discuss matters of mutual interest including the performance of the Crown Prosecution Service.

Food

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Attorney-General what proportion of all food procured for the Law Officers' Departments was sourced from (a) British producers, (b) small and medium-sized enterprises and (c) producers which met British buying standards in the latest period for which figures are available.

Oliver Heald: The Serious Fraud Office and the Attorney-General's Office purchases refreshments for meetings on an occasional basis when appropriate. The source of the food procured is not recorded centrally.
	The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not source or procure any food directly. Catering services are provided at the CPS HQ site in London via a national facilities management contract. Local offices procure catering services for meetings and local events from a range of local independent and high street chain suppliers. The work required to verify and report the source of food products from the range of catering firms used would incur a disproportionate cost.
	Baxter Storey supply catering services to both the Treasury Solicitor's Department and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate.
	(a) 98% of all fresh meat, vegetables and fish procured by Baxter Storey is sourced from British producers.
	(b) 70% of food (all fresh food) procured by Baxter Storey comes from medium-sized enterprises. The remaining 30% is procured from two large dry goods suppliers.
	(c) All suppliers used by Baxter Storey to provide catering services conform to British Standards. These include Freedom Food, Red Tractor, RSPCA Food Enterprise Initiatives and the Marine Stewardship Council.

EDUCATION

Consultants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much (a) he and (b) officials in his Department spent on external assistance to prepare for (i) appearances before select committees and (ii) contact with the media in (A) 2011-12 and (B) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much has been spent by his Department on media training in each year since 2010.

Elizabeth Truss: No money has been spent on external assistance to prepare the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), for appearances before Select Committees or contact with the media.
	Information on expenditure for either media or Select Committee training across the rest of the Department is not held centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	The Department has curbed spending on all communication activity and brought the central costs of communication down from £54 million in 2009-10 to less than £1 million in 2012-13.

Education: Chester

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to sign the funding agreement for the University of Chester and Chester Cathedral's free school.

Edward Timpson: The Department received the funding agreement signed by the trust on 12 July 2013 and the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove) will consider it shortly.

Families: Disadvantaged

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the First Steps pilot scheme and its effectiveness in improving outcomes for families with multiple problems;
	(2)  what his plans are for the future funding of the First Steps scheme.

Edward Timpson: An independent evaluation by the Centre for Educational Development, Appraisal and Research (CEDAR) at the University of Warwick, concluded that 'First Steps' pilot
	"has been a successful and beneficial project leaving a legacy on which further work can be built”.
	I have placed a copy of the full evaluation in the House Library.
	The Department provided grant funding of £488,000 over two years (2011 to 2013) for the pilot, which was made as part of the Department for Education's investment in local services to support the Families with Multiple Problems programme. The funding allowed Addaction to pilot this new approach and collect evidence of its effectiveness to support future discussions with local commissioners. There are no plans to provide further funding as the pilot has now concluded and work on Families with Multiple Problems was transferred to the Department for Communities and Local Government's Troubled Families Team in December 2011

Food

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of all food procured for his Department was sourced from (a) British producers, (b) small and medium-sized enterprises and (c) producers which met British buying standards in the latest period for which figures are available.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education's food is procured as follows: 73% is from British producers and over 40% is from small and medium-sized enterprises. These data do not include the National College for Teaching and Leadership. This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
	All producers in the supply chain meet the Government Buying Standard for Food and Catering.
	Our catering supplier is also required to provide healthy eating options in our canteen, including fresh and seasonal produce.

Free Schools

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what measure of basic need his Department uses to calculate the number of free schools intending to open in areas of basic need;
	(2)  how many of the 308 free schools listed on his Department's website as open or planned to open in September 2013 and beyond are in areas of (a) surplus places and (b) basic need.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education calculates basic need using information about projected pupil numbers and school capacity provided by local authorities. We consider an area to have a basic need for school places where there is a projected surplus of places at the relevant phase of less than 5%. This is the same system for calculating basic need used by the last Government. We consider this to be the minimum surplus necessary in the school system to ensure pupils are not required to travel unreasonable distances in order to take the last remaining available place, allow parental choice to be exercised, and provide flexibility to allow for in-year population movement.
	This Government is tackling the shortage of places we inherited through basic need funding allocated to local authorities. The recent report by the National Audit Office into school places found that the last Government cut the number of primary places by 200,000 during a period of population growth. Over the current spending review we are spending £5 billion on addressing the shortage of places through basic need funding—more than double the amount spent by the previous Government over an equivalent four year period. By September, we expect 190,000 extra places will have been created, with many more to come. On top of this, the recent spending review announced additional funding for 500,000 extra places by 2020-21.
	In assessing the need for free schools, we take into account the basic need for places, the demand from local parents for a new school, and the quality of existing schools in the area.
	We only assess whether free schools are in an area of basic need in relation to mainstream free schools, i.e. excluding 16 to 19, alternative provision, and special free schools. 48 out of 71 open mainstream free schools are in areas of basic need. However, many of the remaining schools are in areas of deprivation or educational underperformance. Three quarters of open free schools are either in areas of basic need or in the 30% most deprived areas.
	108 out of 156 mainstream free schools working towards opening are in areas of basic need. Four in five mainstream free schools working towards opening are planned for areas of basic need, or in the 30% most deprived areas.
	It is no good having surplus places if parents do not want their children to fill them. Free schools offer parents the choice of a better education where they are dissatisfied with existing local schools. Free schools have proved incredibly popular with parents; those open at the start of the academic year received an average of three applicants per place for this September.

Free Schools

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will publish the capital costs of the free schools where building costs have been finalised and contracts signed and (a) which opened in September 2011, (b) which opened in September 2012 and (c) plan to be opened in future.

Edward Timpson: The Department publishes the capital costs of the free schools where building costs have been finalised and contracts signed on the departmental website:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/typesofschools/freeschools/b00222175/open/capital-expenditure
	This information is updated on an ongoing basis.

Public Expenditure

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his Department's and its agencies' planned spending from departmental expenditure limit is in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15 under the headings (i) activities to support all functions, (ii) school infrastructure and funding of education, (iii) education standards, curriculum and qualifications, (iv) workforce training and development, (v) early years, (vi) children, young people and families and (vii) standards and testing agency; and what was spent under each such heading in 2012-13.

David Laws: The Department for Education is in the process of preparing its audited 2012-13 annual report and accounts, which will be published in December 2013.
	Further information on 2013-14 plans is available in the Department's 2013-14 Main Estimate which was published in April this year(1). This document has been placed in the House Library.
	Final decisions on budgets for 2014-15 have not yet been made. The Department is continuing to develop these plans.
	(1)https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/197738/dfe_mainsupplyestimates_201314.pdf

Public Expenditure

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his Department's programme costs will be in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15 under the headings (i) basic need schools capital grant, (ii) Building Schools for the Future capital grant, (iii) National Framework Academies capital grant, (iv) maintenance capital grants to local authorities, (v) primary capital grant, (vi) other capital grants, (vii) dedicated schools grant, (viii) area-based grant, (ix) Standards Fund, (x) school standard grant, (xi) Pupil Premium, (xii) early intervention grant, (xiii) Sure Start current grants to local authorities, (xiv) 16-18 apprenticeships, (xv) school sixth forms (local authority maintained), (xvi) school sixth forms (academies and free schools), (xvii) pre-16 participation (academies), (xviii) 16-19 further education, (xix) PFI special grant, (xx) other current grants, (xxi) other current expenditure and (xxii) research and development; and what programme costs were under each such heading in 2012-13.

David Laws: The Department's 2012-13 annual report and accounts will be published in December 2013 and will set out the figures requested then.
	Figures for 2013-14 planned programme spend are not available in the format requested. However, alternative information on the Department's 2013-14 plans is available in the 2013-14 main estimate which was published in April this year(1). This document has been placed in the House Library.
	Final decisions on budgets for 2014-15 have not yet been made. The Department is continuing to develop these plans.
	(1)https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/197738/dfe_mainsupplyestimates_201314.pdf

School Day

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many schools offer hours from 8 am to 6 pm; and if he will make a statement.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department does not collect data on the opening hours of individual schools. It is for individual schools to decide on the length of their school day and whether to offer optional provision before and after school.

Schools: Birmingham

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many instances of pupils being taught in temporary accommodation in (a) primary, (b) secondary and (c) sixth form colleges were recorded in Birmingham in each of the last three years.

David Laws: The Department does not hold this information.
	The Department collects information from each local authority on the number of school places (school capacity) in state funded primary and secondary schools (except special schools) via an annual survey. The capacity of a school includes any temporary classroom accommodation that is on a school site but we do not ask local authorities to provide a breakdown of these places in the annual survey.

Schools: Construction

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many new schools have been built in each (a) local education authority area and (b) parliamentary constituency in England since May 2010; and if he will make a statement.

David Laws: I will reply as soon as possible.

Schools: Repairs and Maintenance

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the repair and maintenance backlog cost for schools in (a) England and (b) each local education authority; and if he will make a statement.

David Laws: This information is not held by the Department as a result of the last Government's decision to stop collecting data on the condition of the school estate in 2005. We believe this decision was flawed, which is why the Department is now conducting a comprehensive survey of the condition of buildings across the entire school estate.
	The survey programme is scheduled for completion in early autumn, and, following quality assurance of the data, it will be used to inform future maintenance allocations.

Schools: Sports

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to increase uptake of sports in school hours;
	(2)  what plans he has to increase participation in sports by children outside school hours.

Edward Timpson: Physical Education (PE) is, and will remain, compulsory at all four key stages of the national curriculum, and the revised programmes of study place a greater emphasis on competitive sport.
	The Department is also supporting the cross-Government School Games Programme and applauds its impact on competitive sport in schools and encouraging more young people to participate in sport.
	In March 2013 the Prime Minister announced additional ring-fenced funding of £150 million per year for academic years 2013/14 and 2014/15 to support provision of PE and sport in primary schools, including outside the normal school day.
	In addition, the Government's Youth Sport Strategy, launched in January 2012, is providing £1 billion of funding over the five financial years of 2012-13 to 2016-17 to help to ensure that young people are regularly playing sport outside school.
	During academic years 2011/12 and 2012/13 we supported competitive sport in schools with funding of £65 million for a PE Teacher Release Scheme which enabled secondary schools to release a PE teacher for one day a week to encourage take-up of competitive sport in local primary schools.

Schools: Sports

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what proportion of school children aged 12 to 16 years take part in at least one planned sporting activity during school hours each week;
	(2)  what proportion of school children aged 5 to 11 years take part in at least one planned sporting activity during school hours each week;
	(3)  how many hours each week have been allocated for sports for children in the new curriculum.

Edward Timpson: Physical Education (PE) is, and will remain, compulsory at all four key stages of the national curriculum and every child should participate in PE lessons. The Department does not, however, collect data on pupils' participation in planned sporting activities. The Education Act 2002 specifically prohibits the Secretary of State for Education from prescribing the amount of time to be spent on any curriculum subject, including PE.

Teachers: Early Retirement

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of teachers have retired at or before 60 years of age in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

David Laws: The following table provides, as a proportion of the total number of teachers retiring(1,2 )and receiving a teacher's pension each year, the percentage of teachers who did so who were aged 60 or younger. The information is for teachers whose last service was in a publicly funded school in England. Updated teacher retirement information including figures for 2011-12 will be published on 17 July 2013.
	
		
			  At or before age 60 (percentage) 
			 2006-07 93.0 
			 2007-08 92.7 
			 2008-09(3) 90.3 
			 2009-10(3) 90.4 
			 2010-11(3) 88.5 
			 (1) Proportions are as a percentage of the total number of teachers of all ages awarded pension benefits. (2) Teachers awarded retirement benefits may have left teaching service some time before the date of the award. (3) Provisional: The figures will be revised to take into account the late award of pension benefits. Source: Teachers' Pensions Pensioner Statistics.

Young Offender Institutions

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much was spent on education in (a) Feltham, (b) Ashfield, (c) Cookham Wood, (d) Downview, (e) Eastwood Park, (f) Hindley, (g) New Hall, (h) Parc, (i) Warren Hill, (j) Werrington and (k) Weatherby young offenders institutions in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012 and (iv) 2013.

David Laws: The Education Funding Agency (EFA) provides funding for education in public sector under-18 young offender institutions (YOIs). The information requested is in the following table. The EFA is unable to provide information for Ashfield and Parc, as they are funded directly by the Youth Justice Board.
	
		
			  Total per YOI per calendar year (£) 
			 Young offender institution 2010 2011 2012 2013 (to date(1)) 
			 Feltham 1,881,600 1,881,600 1,881,600 940,800 
			 Cookham Wood 1,120,167 1,063,000 1,063,000 531,500 
			 Downview 209,232 209,232 209,232 104,616 
			 Eastwood Park 186,816 186,816 186,816 93,408 
			 Hindley 3,080,000 3,080,000 3,080,000 1,540,000 
			 New Hall 303,576 220,871 105,084 52,542 
			 Warren Hill 1,554,000 1,554,000 1,554,000 777,000 
			 Werrington 1,120,000 1,120,000 1,120,000 560,000 
			 Wetherby 2,520,000 2,520,000 2,520,000 1,260,000 
			 (1) The cost for education in YOIs provided for 2013 presents as significantly lower than in 2012, as it represents delivery to 30 June 2013.

Young People

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how frequently he meets with (a) the UK Youth Parliament and (b) young people and students to consult on his Department's policy objectives and plans.

Edward Timpson: The Youth Voice programme, which is delivered by the British Youth Council, includes provision for the National Scrutiny Group, the Youth Select Committee, and the UK Youth Parliament. The Cabinet Office is assuming responsibility for the Youth Voice programme and grant as part of the machinery of government change announced on 3 July 2013.
	The National Scrutiny Group and the Youth Select Committee scrutinise the work of all Government Departments. Recent meetings of the National Scrutiny Group have discussed curriculum and qualifications reform with key DFES officials, including myself and the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove).
	On 2 July 2012 my hon. Friend the Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton), in his capacity as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Children and Families, met with the National Scrutiny Group. I myself met the National Scrutiny Group on 24 October 2012 and the Secretary of State met the group on the 25 February 2013. Youth policy was discussed on all three occasions.
	On 2 July 2013, the National Scrutiny Group met with myself and my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (Mr Hurd), the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Charities, Social Enterprise and Volunteering at the Cabinet Office, to discuss the Prime Minister's decision to transfer youth policy to the Cabinet Office.
	Ministers and officials have had many meetings and discussions, in addition to the UK Youth Parliament, National Scrutiny Group and the Youth Select Committee about youth related issues including children in care, care leavers, young carers, special educational needs, curriculum and qualification reform. These were with voluntary sector organisations such as the British Youth Council which represent young people, organisations which received grants in 2011 to 2013, those to whom we are making grants in 2013 to 2015, and all party parliamentary groups. Information on meetings with young people and students is not held centrally and a comprehensive list could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Burma

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding her Department has allocated in Burma to promote religious tolerance and multi-faith initiatives.

Alan Duncan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), on 5 Jun 2013, Official Report, column 1171W.

Burma

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she is taking to ensure that funding by her Department for education in Burma which is being channelled through monastic schools is not being used to teach or encourage anti-Muslim hatred and prejudice.

Alan Duncan: DFID supports the Myanmar Education Consortium who has the key objective of increasing the number and proportion of children who complete a quality basic education, including within monastic schools.
	Our NGO partners have begun discussions with the management team of the Monastic Education Development Group, which is supported by the consortium, to develop processes and materials to integrate peace and conflict resolution into the teach training program, and further, monitor the situation in classrooms and refer concerns should they arise. Monastic schools do not teach religion but follow the prescribed government curriculum.

Conflict Pool

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding her Department allocated to the Conflict Pool in each year from 2010-11 to date; how much she estimates will be allocated in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Duncan: The Conflict Pool is funded from a Treasury settlement on conflict resources which is separate from and additional to departmental budgets. The settlement is jointly managed by DFID, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence. The Conflict Pool budget for financial year 2013-14 is £229 million and the indicative budget for 2014-15 is £224 million. The Foreign Secretary's written ministerial statement on Conflict Resources of 13 June 2013 gives more details.
	In financial year 2011-12 DFID committed an additional £12 million from its departmental budget to the Conflict Pool, to support the Government's response to the situation in Libya. In the current financial year, DFID has committed up to £25 million to the Conflict Pool as additional funding for Syria and Libya, and £1.5 million for Central Asia.

Conflict Pool

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment criteria her Department uses to assign projects to the Conflict Pool programme; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Duncan: The Conflict Pool operates on the principle that all policy and programming decisions are taken jointly by the three participating Departments, DFID, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Ministry of Defence (MOD).
	Conflict Pool projects are assessed on their potential to prevent or resolve conflict or contribute to stabilisation. Conflict Pool country and regional programmes determine priorities on the basis of where the risks of fragility are highest, where the UK's interests are greatest and where the UK can make a difference, in line with the Building Stability Overseas Strategy (BSOS). Programme strategies are based on a “theory of change” which sets out expected results, specific outputs which can be directly attributed to the Conflict Pool, and the resources needed to deliver those outputs. Individual project proposals are assessed by joint DFID, FCO and MOD Programme Boards with regard to their fit with the joint programme strategies and value for money criteria. If approved, one of the three Departments leads on the implementation of the given project, in line with its own programme and project management procedures.

Palestinians

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the humanitarian effects of the occupation of the West Bank of Palestine.

Alan Duncan: We are deeply concerned by the impact of the occupation on the lives of Palestinians in the west bank. Our assessment of the humanitarian situation is informed by a number of sources including the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs which produces regular and comprehensive reports of the situation on the ground. We also draw on analysis from international bodies such as the UN, the World Bank and the IMF. These sources clearly document poverty, displacement and constrained growth. For example, the UN recently reported that food insecurity levels among households in the west bank rose from 17% in 2011 to 19% in 2012 and that approximately one million people in 492 communities access or consume 60 litres of water per capita per day (l/c/d) or less, significantly below the World Health Organisation recommendation of 100 l/c/d.

TREASURY

Air Passenger Duty

Henry Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how much air passenger duty has been raised from passengers travelling by air from the UK to (a) Brazil, (b) Russia, (c) India, (d) China, (e) Australia and (f) South Africa, in each year since 2003;
	(2)  whether his Department has undertaken any analysis of the economic effect of air passenger duty since 2010; and if he will publish the results of any such analysis;
	(3)  whether his Department has undertaken any analysis of the economic and fiscal effect of air passenger duty utilising dynamic scoring methodologies; and if he will publish the results of any such analysis;
	(4)  what assessment his Department has made of the effect of air passenger duty on an airline's ability to (a) start new routes and (b) maintain marginal routes;
	(5)  which countries tax passengers travelling internationally by air at a higher level than UK air passenger duty;
	(6)  what assessment he has made of the effect of a reduction in air passenger duty on (a) business travel, (b) leisure travel, (c) trade and (d) economic activity; and if he will make a statement;
	(7)  whether the model used by his Department to model tax policies takes specific account of the characteristics of (a) air transport and (b) tourism sectors;
	(8)  what assessment his Department has made of the effect of air passenger duty on the competitiveness of UK airlines and airports;
	(9)  what information his Department holds on the number of EU member states that tax international air travel;
	(10)  what estimate his Department has made of the impact on the UK economy of a reduction in air passenger duty by (a) five per cent, (b) 10 per cent, (c) 20 per cent, (d) 50 per cent and (e) 100 per cent.

Sajid Javid: Airlines, not passengers, are responsible for paying air passenger duty (APD) to HM Revenue and Customs. HMRC does not collect information on the contribution to APD revenues made from flights to or from specific airports or countries. The published statistics on APD, including information on historic revenues from the duty and passengers numbers by band, are available at:
	https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutyBulletins.aspx
	The economic and fiscal effects of Government policies are routinely assessed by the Office for Budget Responsibility. Information can be found in the OBR's economic and fiscal outlook, at:
	http://budgetresponsibility.independent.gov.uk/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2013/
	The Chancellor of the Exchequer keeps all taxes under review and considers their effects on a range of sectors in the round. APD is a relatively efficient and non-regressive tax, which makes an important contribution to the public finances.
	The Government is already supporting liberalising the UK aviation market to encourage foreign airlines to develop routes from our less congested airports and encouraging the operators of our busiest airports to consider how their scarce capacity might be utilised more effectively as set out in March's Aviation Policy Framework. Services to BRIC countries have more than doubled in the last decade, and Heathrow currently has more flights in total to the BRIC countries than any of the other four main European hubs.
	The European Commission's "Taxes in Europe" database contains information on aviation taxes levied in European Union member states. The database can be found here:
	http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/gen_info/info_docs/tax_inventory/index_en.htm
	Further information on aviation taxes levied internationally can be found online here:
	http://www2.oecd.org/ecoinst/queries/
	Rather than examining specific taxes in isolation when making international comparisons, the Government's focus is on improving the efficiency and competitiveness of the tax system as a whole in order to achieve its objective of having the most competitive tax system in the G20. The Government has already made significant progress in this area, as reflected in recent international comparisons. For example, the 2012 KPMG Annual Survey of Tax Competitiveness looked at the tax regimes of six key competitor economies—including Ireland and the US—and found that the UK was the most commonly cited as being in the top three. According to the most recently available data, the UK's total tax burden was ranked the seventh lowest in the EU21—lower than France, Germany and the Netherlands.

Air Passenger Duty

Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will estimate the number of passengers at UK airports who were subject to air passenger duty and were from households with below average incomes in the latest period for which information is available;
	(2)  what comparative assessment he has made of the level of air passenger duty charged on the number of passengers carried in the UK and equivalent duty levied by (a) other member states of the EU and (b) governments outside the EU.

Sajid Javid: Airlines, not passengers, are responsible for paying air passenger duty (APD) to HM Revenue and Customs. Generally, operators pass the cost of their forecast APD liability on to passengers as part of the ticket price of a flight, although there is no obligation for them to do so.
	Information on the number of passengers flying to and from UK airports is published by the Civil Aviation Authority, but is not broken down by household income. The available data is published online here:
	http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=80&page type=88&pageid=3&sglid=3
	The Office for National Statistics recently published data showing estimated taxes and benefits by household income decile for the period 2011-12. The data suggests that the effect of APD on households is not regressive. The dataset is titled 'The Effects of Taxes and Benefits on Household Income, 2011/12' and can be found online here:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/datasets-and-tables/index.html
	The European Commission's "Taxes in Europe" database contains information on aviation taxes levied in European Union member states. The database can be found here:
	http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/gen_info/info_docs/tax_inventory/index_en.htm
	Further information on aviation taxes levied by Government outside the EU can be found online here:
	http://www2.oecd.org/ecoinst/queries/

Bank Cards: Fees and Charges

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the European Commission's Green Paper, Towards an integrated European market for card, internet and mobile payments and proposals to regulate interchange rates, published 11 January 2013, what estimate he has made of the likely additional costs for (a) consumers and (b) small businesses from holding and using credit and debit cards.

Sajid Javid: The European Commission is expected to publish its response to the Green Paper consultation Towards an Integrated European market for card, internet and mobile payments by summer 2013, together with a legislative proposal to regulate multilateral interchange fees on card payments. The proposal will be accompanied by an impact assessment.
	The Government will make its own assessment of the legislative proposal once the proposal is published.

British Overseas Territories

Ian Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the agreement at the G8, how many action plans from the Overseas Territories have been completed; and when they will be published.

David Gauke: On 15 June, the Overseas Territories committed to produce action plans on beneficial ownership, setting out the concrete steps they will take to ensure greater clarity about who really owns, controls, and benefits from companies and legal arrangements in their jurisdictions.
	Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands have published their action plans. The Government will continue to work in partnership with the Overseas Territories as they produce these action plans as soon as possible, and by the end of the year at the latest.

Civil Servants: Pay

Tom Clarke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the annual pay settlement for the civil service has been since 2010.

Danny Alexander: Annual pay awards to civil servants are determined by individual Departments and arm’s length bodies, subject to the process and limits set out in the annual civil service pay guidance.
	The following table shows the annual pay increase expected to be implemented by civil service departments and their arm’s length bodies, falling within the scope of the guidance between 2010-11 and 2013-14.
	
		
			  Pay remit 
			 2010-11 Basic awards within range 0-1%. Increase for staff in post(1) 0-2% 
			 2011-12 Pay freeze(2) 
			 2012-13 Pay freeze(2) 
			 2013-14 Limit of 1% on average annual pay 
			 (1)Increase for staff in post Average cost of pay increases for staff remaining in the same grade/responsibility, including the basic award and any other increases. (2)Pay freeze At the June 2010 Budget the Government announced a two year pay freeze for public sector workforces for those earning above the full-time equivalent of £21,000 per annum; those earning £21,000 or less received an increase of at least £250 each year. Those civil service bodies entering the pay freeze one year early, in 2010-11, were subject to the limit of 1% on average annual pay from 2012-13.

Food

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of all food procured for his Department was sourced from (a) British producers, (b) small and medium-sized enterprises and (c) producers which met British buying standards in the latest period for which figures are available.

Sajid Javid: 76% of food procured in the last 12 months for the catering services provided in 1 Horse Guards Road by a subcontractor to Exchequer Partnership, the PFI provider, came from British sources. 73% came from small and medium-sized businesses. The catering subcontractor is accredited by Assured Food Standards and a number of items provided are Red Tractor approved. Food was procured in line with these standards.

Government Securities

Ann McKechin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his Department's policy is on the issue of Government bonds with expiry dates in excess of 30 years.

Sajid Javid: The Government's debt management objective is:
	“to minimise, over the long term, the costs of meeting the Government's financing needs, taking into account risk, while ensuring that debt management policy is consistent with the aims of monetary policy”.
	The Government issues debt with maturities in excess of 30 years, along with a range of other maturities, as an important part of fulfilling this objective. Longer-dated debt reduces the Government's near-term exposure to refinancing risk. The average maturity profile of the UK's debt stock is approximately twice that of any other G7 country.
	In June this year, the Government successfully issued its first 'super-long' gilt, a 55-year gilt maturing in 2068. This was the longest dated debt the UK Government has issued since 1937, and represented an eight-year extension of the nominal yield curve.

House Insurance

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many properties with home insurance have (a) only buildings insurance, (b) only contents insurance and (c) have both buildings and contents insurance;
	(2)  how many domestic properties (a) have and (b) do not have home insurance;
	(3)  if he will provide a breakdown of the households that do not have home insurance by (a) total household income, (b) property ownership type, (c) number of people who reside in the household and (d) length of residence at the property;
	(4)  if he will rank by (a) constituency, (b) local authority and (c) electoral ward the proportion of properties in each such area without home insurance.

Sajid Javid: The Government do not hold this information. Data on the take-up of home insurance is available in the Office for National Statistics' ‘Living Costs and Food Survey’.

Infrastructure

Ann McKechin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what amount has been raised through the Pension Infrastructure Platform (PIP) since its launch; and how much capital has been invested in infrastructure projects by PIP since its launch.

Sajid Javid: The Pension Infrastructure Platform (PIP) is an industry-led initiative and is fully independent of Government.
	The National Association of Pension Funds has announced that the Pension Infrastructure Platform (PIP) has secured soft commitments of £1 billion of investment capital from its founding investors. The PIP is scheduled to launch and begin making investments this year.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the administrative costs to lenders for the implementation and running of the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme.

Sajid Javid: When using the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme, lenders will need to pay the Government a commercial fee for each mortgage guaranteed under the scheme. This fee will be set so that the scheme is self-financing, and will therefore be set on a commercial basis.
	This fee will be set by HM Treasury in line with State Aid guidance.
	On 27 June 2013, the Treasury announced that UK Asset Resolution will administer the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme. As scheme administrator they will be responsible for the collection of the fee.
	Further details on the scheme will be announced later this year.

Northcote House

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department used the facilities at Northcote House, Sunningdale Park, Berkshire in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Sajid Javid: Following a review of learning and development across Government the National School of Government, which delivered training on the Sunningdale Park site, closed in March 2012. Data on which individuals may have used the site were not retained.

Personal Income: Ashfield

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of the change in median household real income before housing costs in Ashfield constituency since May 2010.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated July 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of the change in median household real income before housing costs in the Ashfield constituency since May 2010 (165706).
	ONS does not publish estimates of median household income at a parliamentary constituency level. Estimates of mean household income are produced using our small area income estimates modelling and are available at such a level, the latest available being for the year 2007/08. The next year for which ONS small area income estimates will be available will be 2011/12. The release date for these statistics has not yet been finalised, but it is anticipated that they will be released in early 2014.
	Mean household equivalised weekly disposable income for the Ashfield parliamentary constituency was estimated at £500 for 2007/08 (in 2012 prices). This estimate, as with any involving sample surveys, is subject to a margin of uncertainty.

Public Private Partnerships

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many Public Private Partnership infrastructure projects have been assisted through the temporary lending programme announced in July 2012; and what the total value of the support provided so far is;
	(2)  which departmental capital budgets have been used to fund loans advanced through the temporary lending programme for Public Private Partnership infrastructure projects announced in June 2012.

Danny Alexander: Following the announcement of the temporary lending programme long-term debt sources for well-structured PPP infrastructure projects have begun to re-emerge.
	The announcement by the Government signalled its willingness to see PPP projects go ahead using departmental capital budgets if necessary. This policy reassured the market that the Government was willing to act. A significant number of PPP projects reached financial close, including 12 PFI projects, without the need for Government lending.

Public Private Partnerships

Ann McKechin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which 30 public private partnership infrastructure projects are to be funded by the UK Guarantees temporary lending programme.

Danny Alexander: Following the announcement of the temporary lending programme, long-term debt sources for well-structured PPP infrastructure projects have begun to re-emerge.
	The announcement by the Government signalled its willingness to see PPP projects go ahead using departmental capital budgets if necessary. This policy reassured the market that the Government was willing to act. A significant number of PPP projects reached financial close, including 12 PFI projects, without the need for Government lending.

Revenue and Customs

Grahame Morris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what proportion of HM Revenue and Customs enquiry centre customers were (a) from an ethnic minority, (b) female and (c) disabled in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(2)  what proportion of migrant workers used the face-to-face services provided by HM Revenue and Customs enquiry centres in (a) the East of England, (b) the East Midlands, (c) London, (d) the North East of England, (e) the North West of England, (f) Northern Ireland, (g) Scotland, (h) the South East of England, (i) the South West of England, (j) Wales and (k) the West Midlands in 2011-12.

David Gauke: The information is available only at a disproportionate cost.

VAT: Hospices

Lady Hermon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will make it his policy to zero rate hospices for the purposes of VAT; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what representations he has received on the value of revenue accruing to the Exchequer from VAT paid by hospices.

David Gauke: EU VAT agreements do not allow the UK (or other member states) to unilaterally extend the scope of our zero rates, or introduce new ones. Any extension would require the unanimous agreement of all 28 member states.
	The last discussions on reduced rates of VAT concluded after six years of highly politically charged negotiation and there is limited appetite among the member states at EU level to revisit them.
	I receive regular representations from the charitable sector on the VAT that they incur.
	The Government provides support for charities primarily through over £4 billion a year in tax reliefs. The charities sector currently receives £300 million in reliefs from VAT.

Welfare Tax Credits

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many claims from people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK for (i) child tax credits and (ii) working tax credits have been appealed in each of the last five years; and what the average waiting time for such appeals to be (A) heard and (B) concluded has been.

Sajid Javid: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) do not hold data about average waiting times for formal appeals to be heard or concluded since these are matters for Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS).

HEALTH

Accountancy

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on contracts with (a) Deloitte, (b) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (c) KPMG and (d) Ernst and Young in each year since 2008.

Daniel Poulter: The Department's spend for all financial years since 2008-09 to 2011-12 on Contracts with Deloitte, KPMG, Ernst and Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers are all contained in the following table.
	
		
			 £ 
			  2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Deloitte 2,742,647 2,397,969 300,000 64,710 
			 PricewaterhouseCoopers 3,705,889 4,836,034 778,172 215,000 
			 Ernst and Young 11,975,141 7,163,481 4,598,274 305,999 
			 KPMG 4,497,416 5,563,913 223,128 120,000 
		
	
	2012-13 consultancy spend will not be available until the Department's summarised annual accounts are published later in 2013.
	In July 2008, the Department implemented a new business management system which collects enhanced detail on the categorisation, purpose and value of orders. This has now given the Department the scope to be more specific about the nature of each of the consultancy commissions.

Antibiotics

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 25 April 2013, Official Report, column 1106W, on antibiotics, when the five-year antimicrobial strategy and action plan will be published; what assessment he has made of the findings reported in Science Transitional Medicine 2013, Vol. 5, Issue 192, on the effects of excessive or chronic use of antibiotics on those with mitochondrial disease; and whether concurrent use of N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine with antibiotic treatment is authorised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for those with mitochondrial disease.

Anna Soubry: The Five Year Antimicrobial Strategy will be published later this summer. The findings reported in Science Transitional Medicine have been brought to the attention of the NHS England's Rare Mitochondrial Disorders Service, which aims to provide clinical and laboratory based diagnosis, advice and support to individuals and families. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has not issued guidance to the national health service on the use of N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine for the treatment of mitochondrial disease.

Breast Cancer

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to introduce clinical trials aimed at younger breast cancer patients.

Daniel Poulter: Government and charities work closely together in breast cancer research through the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI).
	The remit of the NCRI Breast Cancer Clinical Studies Group includes being responsible, in liaison with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network and clinical trials units, for the development and delivery of a trials portfolio encompassing both academic and industry-sponsored trials, and to propose new trials and other well-designed studies.

Consultants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much (a) he and (b) officials in his Department spent on external assistance to prepare for (i) appearances before Select Committees and (ii) contact with the media in (A) 2011-12 and (B) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: In 2011-12 and 2012-13, there was no spend on external assistance for Ministers for preparing for Select Committee appearances or for contact with the media.
	For the National Programme for Information Technology, the cost of external assistance for officials for preparation for Public Accounts Committee hearings was £98,056 in 2011-12 and £73,563 for 2012-13. Information about any other spend on external assistance for 2011-12 or 2012-13 for officials for preparing for Select Committee appearances or for contact with the media is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Defibrillators

George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions his Department has had with ambulance trusts on the site mapping and registration of automated external defibrillators (AED) in England and Wales; and what protocols are in place to ensure that ambulance trusts regularly replace batteries installed in public access AEDs.

Anna Soubry: In June 2013, I met with the London Ambulance Service to discuss issues around the provision of automated external defibrillators (AEDs).
	As set out in the Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes Strategy, NHS England is working with the Resuscitation Council, the British Heart Foundation and others to promote the site mapping and registering of AEDs.
	Protocols for the replacement of batteries installed in public access AEDs is a matter for individual ambulance trusts.

Food

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of all food procured for his Department was sourced from (a) British producers, (b) small and medium-sized enterprises and (c) producers which met British buying standards in the latest period for which figures are available.

Daniel Poulter: The information is as follows:
	For London buildings
	(a) 61% of food is sourced from British food producers;
	(b) 44% is sourced from small and medium-sized enterprises; and
	(c) 100% of producers used meet British buying standards.
	For Blenheim House, Leeds
	(a) 65% of food is sourced from British food producers; .
	(b) 95% is sourced from small and medium-sized enterprises; and
	(c) 87% of producers used meet British buying standards.

Health

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  on how many occasions companies have failed to meet a Responsibility Deal pledge by a stated deadline;
	(2)  what steps he takes when a company fails to meet a Responsibility Deal pledge by a stated deadline.

Anna Soubry: Of the Responsibility Deal's 28 pledges, only a selection include specific deadlines.
	The alcohol unit pledge has a deadline of the end of December 2013. The Portman Group will be overseeing an independent audit of on-shelf labelling at the end of 2013-early 2014 to assess progress on this pledge.
	The salt reduction pledge set salt targets to be achieved by the end of 2012 and the artificial trans fats and salt catering pledges ask new partners to make progress within 12 months of signing up. We recognise that technical issues may have impacted on some partners' ability to deliver these pledges fully but it is important to recognise the significant reductions that have been achieved to date.
	The occupational health pledge set a deadline of the end of March 2013. We will be revising this and asking new signatories to make progress on this within 12 months of signing up.
	For all the deal's pledges partners are expected to report annually on the progress they have made meeting their commitments. This information is made publicly available on the Responsibility Deal website. We believe that this transparent and open reporting of progress provides a powerful lever for delivery.

Health

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many companies and organisations have signed up to the 34 pledges of his Department's Responsibility Deal.

Anna Soubry: Full details of the Responsibility Deal's partners are publicly available on the deal's website at:
	https://responsibilitydeal.dh.gov.uk/partners/
	The website is updated on a daily basis with new partners and any changes to the commitments of existing partners.
	On 10 July 2013, 536 organisations were signed up to the deal's 28 pledges.

Health Services

George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which (a) private companies and (b) charity providers were granted Any Qualified Provider Status in England in (i) 2012 and (ii) 2013.

Anna Soubry: The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Hepatitis

Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many known hepatitis C victims have received financial assistance via charities set up by the Government since 2010.

Anna Soubry: As at 11 July 2013, the Caxton Foundation, which was established in 2011 to provide discretionary support to those infected with hepatitis, C through treatment with national health service supplied blood or blood products and their families, has provided financial assistance to 402 beneficiaries in the United Kingdom, including 319 beneficiaries in England.

Hepatitis

Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many known hepatitis C victims have been given financial assistance throughout the UK; and what the average amount of such support is;
	(2)  how much support his Department provides to hepatitis C sufferers; and how much on average each sufferer receives;
	(3)  what the lowest amount paid by the Government to a hepatitis C victim is;
	(4)  what the highest amount paid by the Government to a hepatitis C victim is.

Anna Soubry: The Department funds the Skipton Fund Ltd, which, as at 30 June 2013, had made ex gratia non-discretionary payments to 5,065 individuals in the United Kingdom, including 3,964 in England. These payments, which are in respect of hepatitis C infection acquired through treatment with national health service-supplied blood or blood products prior to 1991, are:
	Stage 1: £20,000 lump sum for individuals with chronic hepatitis C infection; and
	Stage 2: £50,000 lump sum, and an annual payment, currently £14,191, for individuals with the most serious hepatitis-C related disease, namely Cirrhosis, primary liver cancer, B-cell non-Hodgkins lymphoma and those either awaiting or who have undergone a liver transplant.
	In addition, discretionary support has been available through the Caxton Foundation for infected individuals and their families since 2011. The Department has made available up to £2 million to the Caxton Foundation for this, and previous, financial years.
	As of 30 June 2013, the lowest amount paid by the Skipton Fund to any individual is £20,000 and the highest amount paid out to any individual is £103,478.75, since annual payments were introduced in 2011.
	Due to the nature of the various payments, it is not possible to provide a meaningful average amount that each individual has received.
	The range of sources of financial assistance in the UK that is available to individuals with hepatitis C also includes state welfare benefits.

Hospitals: Administration

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 18 June 2013, Official Report, column 659-60W, on hospitals: administration, to whom assurances following changes to the size and shape of hospital workforces and the quality and safety of patient care is maintained or improved are given; and what form they take.

Daniel Poulter: Employers are responsible for workforce planning. Planning the numbers of nurses, the size and shape of the workforce must be based on the needs of the patients. Services must be properly designed around the care and treatment people need.
	The Department and NHS England published ‘Compassion in Practice’, a new three year vision and strategy that articulates the nursing profession's role in delivering health care and improved health outcomes in December 2012. The strategy is based around six core values: Care, Compassion, Competence, Communication, Courage, and Commitment. The vision aims to embed these values, known as the 6Cs, in all nursing, midwifery and care-giving settings throughout the NHS and social care to improve care for patients in England.
	As well as the clear focus on the 6Cs, the strategy sets out six areas of action to be delivered together as one programme to achieve the values of the 6Cs. Action Area 3 ‘Delivering high quality care and measuring impact’, requires Boards to publish and discuss quality metrics and outcomes at each board meeting. Action Area 5 requires Boards to sign off and publish information on staffing levels at least every six months to demonstrate that they are using evidence based tools to calculate their staffing which meets the needs of their patients. The staffing levels need to be published along with an explanation of how they impact on quality. It is recommended that this should be discussed in public Board meetings.
	There is a detailed implementation plans for each of the 6Cs Action Areas, which are available on the NHS England website at:
	www.6cs.england.nhs.uk/pg/groups/66536/Compassion+in+practice/

Hospitals: Consultants

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to ensure that the performance of individual consultants in every specialism is measured consistently and published; and if he will publish national guidance on this matter.

Anna Soubry: NHS England has begun the staged publication of mortality rates for individual hospital consultants in 10 specialties, leading a drive to give patients more information about their treatment and helping the national health service drive up and maintain the quality of care.
	The 10 specialties were chosen on the basis that they are covered by an audit that was felt fit for purpose, or in a position that they could be developed so they are fit for purpose. Over time, the initiative will be expanded to include other specialties.
	Data on consultant mortality rates can be accessed on the NHS Choices website at:
	www.nhs.uk/consultantdata

Hospitals: Food

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice his Department gives to hospitals in England on what types of food should be available to the general public on their premises.

Daniel Poulter: The Department and a number of its agencies have issued a range of guidance on food served to the public which can be adopted by the national health service.
	Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services (Food GBS), launched in June 2011, covers nutrition and sustainability aspects of food provision. While not mandatory for hospitals, NHS organisations are encouraged to adopt the Food GBS, which includes recommendations on reducing fat and salt, including more fruit and vegetables on the menu as well as making sure that food is bought in an environmentally sustainable way.
	The Department also encourages employers to sign up to the Responsibility Deal's pledge on healthier staff restaurants. This specifically mentions fat, salt and sugar as well as other recommendations on fruit and vegetables and portion size. Further information is available on the Department's website at:
	https://responsibilitydeal.dh.gov.uk/health-at-work-pledges/
	There is also guidance that caterers could use to help provide food that meets the nutritional needs of adults, including those in NHS organisations. Public Health England is planning an update to this guidance. This guidance, “Healthier and more sustainable catering: A toolkit for serving foods to adults”, can be found on the Department's website at:
	www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/147376/dh_127593.pdf.pdf
	Finally, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence published guidance in December 2006 for the NHS on tackling obesity, “Guidance on the prevention, identification, assessment and management of overweight and obesity in adults and children”. This includes recommendations that the NHS as an employer should actively promote healthier choices in restaurants, hospitality, vending machines and shops. This guidance can be found at:
	www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/11000/30364/30364.pdf

Mental Health Services: Barrow in Furness

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many serious unexpected incidents (SUIs) occurred at the Dova Acute Mental Health Unit in Barrow-in-Furness in the last three years; on what dates such incidents took place; what the nature of such incidents were; and on what dates relatives and the Care Quality Commission were informed of each SUI.

Daniel Poulter: The information requested is not available centrally.
	National health service care providers are required to submit reports of patient safety incidents leading to severe harm or death to the National Reporting and Learning System owned by NHS England. However, due to the way these incident reports are categorised, it is not possible to identify the information requested.
	We have written to Mike Taylor, Chair of the Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust informing of the hon. Member’s query. He will reply shortly and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library.

Mental Health: Floods

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of flooding upon a person's mental health.

Norman Lamb: Public Health England has advised that the Health Protection Agency reviewed the literature on the mental health effects associated with flooding and published the report “The Effects of Flooding on Mental Health (2011)”, a copy of which has been placed in the Library and is also available at:
	www.hpa.org.uk/webc/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1317131767423

Midwives

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to ensure that there are sufficient trained midwives to cope with the UK's increasing birth rate.

Daniel Poulter: The Government is committed to giving mothers the support and care they need throughout their pregnancy, birth and after birth. Safety and high quality care for mothers are at the heart of maternity services.
	As at March 2013, there were 1,368 (6.8%) more midwives in the national health service than in May 2010, and there are 5,000 in training. This will help mothers get the care they want. There were 2,527 student midwife training places available for 2012-13.
	The number of qualified midwives for the period 2008 to 2012 is set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Qualified midwives (full-time equivalent) 
			 2008 18,896 
			 2009 19,496 
			 2010 20,126 
			 2011 20,519 
			 2012 20,935 
			 Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) Annual NHS Workforce Census, data as at 30 September each year

Midwives

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that midwives are retained by the NHS.

Daniel Poulter: The retention of midwives is the responsibility of employers within the national health service. As at March 2013, there were 1,368 (6.8%) more midwives in the NHS than in May 2010, and there are 5,000 in training.
	The number of qualified midwives for the period 2008 to 2012 is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Qualified Midwives (full time equivalent) 
			 2008 18,896 
			 2009 19,496 
			 2010 20,126 
			 2011 20,519 
			 2012 20,935 
			 Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) Annual NHS Workforce Census. Data as at 30 September each year

Midwives

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that newly qualified midwives are able to find suitable positions in maternity units.

Daniel Poulter: The recruitment of newly qualified midwives is the responsibility of local health care employers within the national health service. It is their responsibility to ensure they have available sufficient staff to run their services to meet the needs of their local population, based on clinical need and sound evidence.

Muscular Dystrophy: South East

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to ensure that people affected by muscle-wasting conditions will be able to continue to access neuromuscular co-ordinator support in the South East coast health region following September 2013; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: All tertiary centres for neuromuscular disorders provide a regional care adviser function. Patients in Kent, Medway, Surrey and Sussex requiring these services are mainly referred to London for treatment, where care advisers, including a paediatric adviser at Great Ormond Street hospital, already exist within the London tertiary centres.
	We understand the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign (MDC) and the Surrey and Sussex area team are currently exploring the potential for funding an extension of the care pathway adviser post for a further six months. The role of the care pathway adviser is now incorporated in the nationally prescribed service specifications and the area teams for London, Surrey and Sussex will work together to ensure that London tertiary centres support the role across Kent, Surrey and Sussex.
	NHS England area teams will continue to remain involved in the oversight of the entire care pathway for patients with neuromuscular diseases through Strategic Clinical Networks (SCNs), who work in conjunction with colleagues across the area team, clinical commissioning groups and local authority Health and Wellbeing Boards.
	The SCNs for London and the SCN for Kent, Surrey and Sussex will work together on the aspects of the accessibility of pathways that cross the two areas. This will include how care co-ordination will link from the tertiary centres in London to local services in Kent and Medway and Surrey and Sussex. In addition, the Surrey and Sussex area team at NHS England intends to continue to work closely with the MDC in the development of the new MDC project "Bridging the Gap", building upon the existing good relationship with the charity.

NHS Foundation Trusts

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what representations (a) his predecessors and (b) his Department received expressing concerns about Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in each year prior to May 2010, since the foundation of that trust;
	(2)  what representations (a) his predecessors and (b) his Department received expressing concerns about Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in each year prior to May 2010, since the foundation of that trust;
	(3)  what representations (a) his predecessors and (b) his Department received expressing concerns regarding Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust in each year prior to May 2010, since the foundation of that trust;
	(4)  what representations (a) his predecessors and (b) his Department received expressing concerns regarding Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in each year prior to May 2010, since the foundation of that trust;
	(5)  what representations (a) his predecessors and (b) his Department received expressing concerns regarding Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust in each year prior to May 2010, since the foundation of that trust;
	(6)  what representations (a) his predecessors and (b) his Department received expressing concerns regarding the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust in each year prior to May 2010, since the foundation of that trust;
	(7)  what representations (a) his predecessors and (b) his Department received expressing concerns regarding East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust in each year prior to May 2010, since the foundation of that trust;
	(8)  what representations (a) his predecessors and (b) his Department received expressing concerns regarding George Eliot Hospitals NHS Trust in each year prior to May 2010, since the foundation of that trust;
	(9)  what representations (a) his predecessors and (b) his Department received expressing concerns regarding Medway NHS Foundation Trust in each year prior to May 2010, since the foundation of that trust;
	(10)  what representations (a) his predecessors and (b) his Department received expressing concerns about North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust in each year prior to May 2010, since the foundation of that trust;
	(11)  what representations (a) his predecessors and (b) his Department received expressing concerns regarding North Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in each year prior to May 2010, since the foundation of that trust;
	(12)  what representations (a) his predecessors and (b) his Department received expressing concerns regarding Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in each year prior to May 2010, since the foundation of that trust;
	(13)  what representations (a) his predecessors and (b) his Department received expressing concerns regarding Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in each year prior to May 2010, since the foundation of that trust;
	(14)  what representations (a) his predecessors and (b) his Department received expressing concerns regarding United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in each year prior to May 2010, since the foundation of that trust.

Anna Soubry: Information is not available in the format requested. Records are available from August 2005. For those trusts that achieved foundation trust (FT) status after August 2005, the data shown are from the date FT status was achieved.
	A search of the Department's ministerial correspondence database has identified correspondence received that is potentially about each trust—the following table shows the volumes of this correspondence split by year due for answer. It is not possible to identify which items of correspondence raised concerns without incurring disproportionate cost. These figures represent correspondence received by the Department's ministerial correspondence unit only.
	
		
			 Trust 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 
			 Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 8 92 29 28 29 51 
			 Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust — — — 159 115 36 
			 Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust 4 29 15 22 14 14 
			 Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust — — — — 7 3 
			 Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust — — — 4 14 8 
			 Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust    4 8 4 
			 East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 9 49 21 26 26 11 
			 George Eliot Hospitals NHS Trust  43 17 7 8 7 
			 Medway NHS Foundation Trust — — — 14 39 15 
			 North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust. 2 20 9 9 6 7 
			 Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust — — 1 7 11 4 
			 Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust — — 3 14 5 6 
			 Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust — — — 4 6 20 
			 United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust 24 173 153 14 46 14

NHS: Awards

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will review the criteria for giving a Clinical Excellence Award (CEA); and if he will introduce more routine reviews of CEAs already made.

Daniel Poulter: On 17 December 2012, the Government responded to the report by the independent Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration: “Review of compensation levels, incentives and Clinical Excellence and Distinction Awards schemes for NHS Consultants”. This report made recommendations for changes to the clinical excellence award scheme, and observations on the consultant contract.
	The Department is currently in discussion with NHS Employers and the British Medical Association about changes to the Clinical Excellence Awards scheme and the intention is to reach a Heads of Terms agreement this summer.
	National Clinical Excellence Awards and Distinction Awards are currently subject to application for renewal every five years. The current process of five year renewal ensures that Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards only rewards consultants who continue to meet the standards required.
	Arrangements for the future are being covered in the talks referred to above.

NHS: Drugs

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made since the report Extent and causes of international variations in drug usage in 2010 by Sir Mike Richards of the relative success of the NHS in delivering new medicines to patients quickly once they are licensed, compared to other countries;
	(2)  what progress has been made by his Department towards publishing indicators that would enable the public to compare the NHS's usage of new medicines with that of other EU countries; and if he will publish a timetable for the publication of such indicators.

Norman Lamb: Professor Sir Mike Richard's 2010 report on the Extent and Causes of International Variations in Drug Usage looked at usage of a number of drugs in a range of therapeutic areas across 14 countries, including the United Kingdom. The report did not seek to identify a correct level of utilisation, but rather to identify where variations exist and provide potential explanations for them.
	We have not repeated the exercise since this report was published. The 2009 Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme agreement commits the Department to continuing work in this area. Plans for further work are under discussion but a specific timetable for this has not been agreed.

Northcote House

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department used the facilities at Northcote House, Sunningdale Park, Berkshire in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: Following a review of learning and development across government, the National School of Government which delivered training on the Sunningdale Park site, closed in March 2012. Data on which individuals may have used the site was not retained.

Obesity: Surgery

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people at what cost to the public purse have been fitted with gastric bands since May 2010.

Daniel Poulter: Information on the cost of fitting gastric bands is not available because these costs are not reported separately to the Department.
	Information on the number, of people fitted with gastric bands is also not available. However, information on the number of finished consultant episodes with a main or subsequent procedure of gastric band insertion is collected. This data shows that between 1 May 2010 and 31 March 2012 there were 2,805 such finished consultant episodes. This does not necessarily represent the total number of people fitted with a gastric band as a person may have had more than one finished consultant episode during the period.

Orthopaedics: Armed Forces

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has taken steps to implement recommendation 6 of the Murrison Report, A Better Deal for Military Amputees, calling for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to be tasked with the production of national guidelines for prosthetic prescription and rehabilitation for all amputees including provision for military amputees.

Daniel Poulter: NHS England has drafted and consulted on a national service specification for the direct commissioning of services by NHS England, put in place from 1 April 2013, which sets out the standards and quality of care to be provided for patients requiring prosthetic services. A decision was therefore taken not to pursue recommendation 6 of the Murrison report, ‘A Better Deal for Military Amputees’, to avoid unnecessary duplication.
	The national service specification has been sent to providers of prosthetic services who are currently assessing their service against the core requirements set out in the specification. Should any prosthetic service not meet the core requirements an action plan will be agreed with NHS England to ensure timely compliance.
	The service specification will be implemented from 1 October 2013.

Orthopaedics: Armed Forces

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of recommendation 3 of the Murrison Report, A Better Deal for Military Amputees, published 2011; and if he will adopt this recommendation as his policy.

Daniel Poulter: Dr Murrison's report ‘A better deal for military amputees’, recommended that veterans should be able to access mainstream national health service provision through a Disablement Service Centre (DSC) of their choice. The Government is committed to supporting veterans who have lost a limb as a result of their service in the armed forces and the recommendation made by Dr Murrison is being put in place by the Department of Health in England.
	All veterans are able to choose which NHS DSC they access and this has been supported by the changes in the commissioning arrangements for prosthetic services in England following the Health and Social Care Act 2012. NHS England is now the commissioner for all NHS prosthetics services, replacing the previous commissioning arrangements for prosthetics services in England.
	For those injured service personnel being discharged from the armed forces, work is ongoing between the Ministry of Defence and the NHS to improve the transition and give the injured service person the opportunity to choose the NHS DSC that best meets their needs, whether it is one of the nine centres announced earlier in the year in response to the recommendations made by Dr Murrison or a DSC closer to home or friends and family.

Patients

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the top five most expensive NHS patients have cost since May 2010.

Daniel Poulter: The information requested is not available because cost is not reported to the Department at individual patient level.

Self-harm: Children

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children under the age of 18 were admitted to hospital in each health care trust as a result of self-harm in each of the last three years.

Norman Lamb: A table giving details of admissions for which the primary diagnosis is intentional self-harm and the patient is aged 0-17 in each of the three years 2009-10,. 2010-11, and 2011-12 has been placed in the Library.

Social Services: Disability

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the consultation to decide on the capped care cost of social care for working age disabled people will be published.

Norman Lamb: We will launch a consultation on the implementation of our reforms to social care funding shortly. This will gather evidence to inform a decision on the appropriate level of the cap for working age adults of different ages.

Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many answers by his Department to parliamentary questions involving tables of statistics fewer than four pages in length were (a) printed in full and (b) provided via a link to a website in the last year;
	(2)  what guidance his Department follows in determining whether statistics in answers to parliamentary questions are (a) provided in full, (b) provided via a link to a website and (c) deposited in the Library.

Daniel Poulter: The Office of the Leader of the House provides guidance to all Departments on the practice of answering parliamentary questions by reference to Government websites.
	The guidance advises that the answer should give the hon. Member the factual information requested (including supplying paper copies of the website pages), with an additional line in the answer indicating that the information is already made readily available.
	The full guide is available on the Cabinet Office website at:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work
	A copy of the guidance relating to referring to websites has already been placed in the Library, and the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons intends to review the Guide to Parliamentary Work later this year.
	The Department's practice is to include tables in the answer and not via a web link. It is unlikely that this practice has not been followed in a particular case but it would incur disproportionate cost to review the answer to every written question to confirm whether this was the case.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Energy Bill

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans he has to bring forward amendments to the Energy Bill for the purpose of improving market access for independent generators to power purchase agreements and improving the viability and workability of the final mechanism; and whether any charges will be in place before the allocation of the first contracts for difference.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 12 July 2013
	Independent generators play a key role in helping meet the Government's low carbon ambitions, and I am committed to ensuring that they can continue doing so under the reforms to the electricity market that will be implemented through the powers in the Energy Bill. I recognise the concerns that have been raised around access to the market, and my officials are working closely and constructively with the industry to identify the causes of any problems and explore, potential solutions. As part of this work, the Department is working with stakeholders to ease the transition to CfDs, including by developing standard power purchase agreement contracts and a voluntary code of practice, and is considering whether further regulatory intervention is required.
	I intend to respond more fully on this issue in the course of the Bill's passage through Parliament, including bringing forward amendments to the Bill if necessary.

Equality

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much has been spent by his Department (a) in total and (b) on staff costs on promoting equality and diversity in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and how many people are employed by his Department for this purpose.

Gregory Barker: The total spend (excluding salary costs) by the Department of Energy and Climate Change on promoting equality and diversity was:
	2010 to 2011—£30,815.00
	2011 to 2012—£54,691,83
	2012 to 2013—£32,806.80
	The number of staff employed on promoting equality and diversity was:
	2010 to 2011—1 HEO member of staff, salary band £29,261 to £34,424
	2011 to 2012—1 HEO member of staff, salary band £29,261 to £34,424
	2012 to 2013—0.6% HEO member of staff, salary band £29,554 to £34,424, plus 1.33 Grade 7, salary band £47,445 to £56,597
	Due to the low numbers of staff involved it is not possible to give exact salary details under the Data Protection Act.

Northcote House

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department used the facilities at Northcote House, Sunningdale Park, Berkshire in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: No DECC Ministers used the facilities at Northcote House Sunningdale Park, Berkshire in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12, and (iii) 2012-13.
	Our systems do not allow us to identify if staff used the facilities.

Power Stations

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the total installed capacity of power stations in Great Britain was in each year since 1989 for which figures are available.

Michael Fallon: The following table gives the total capacity of power stations (owned or operated by major power producers (MPPs)) in Great Britain from 1999 to 2011. While DECC publishes figures for all generators for the UK as a whole, figures for Great Britain are only available for MPPs, while data for 1989 to 1998 are not available. To note that, under this measure, the capacity of some renewable technologies (wind and small hydro) has been de-rated to account for intermittency.
	
		
			  MPPs Transmission Entry Capacity (MW), as at end of December 
			 1999 68,261 
			 2000 70,262 
			 2001 71,451 
			 2002 68,552 
			 2003 69,555 
			 2004 71,430 
			 2005 71,880 
			 2006 72,973 
			 2007 73,924 
		
	
	
		
			 2008 74,690 
			 2009 75,389 
			 2010 80,877 
			 2011 79,314 
			 Source: Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2012, table 5.8, available at: https://www.gov.uk/Government/publications/electricity-chapter-5-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes

Power Stations

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many power stations of each fuel type (a) were commissioned and (b) began generating in each year since 1989 for which figures are available.

Michael Fallon: Table 1 shows the number of power stations (owned or operated by major power producers) by fuel type and the year in which commissioning/generation began, until May 2012. Data to May 2013 will be available on 25 July 2013. No distinction is made between the year in which commissioning began and the year in which normal generation began. The data are taken from Table 5.11 of the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES), available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-chapter-5-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of power stations by fuel type and year in which commissioning/generation began 
			  Coal Gas Nuclear Wind Hydro Biomass and waste Other(1) Total 
			 1989 — — — — — — — 0 
			 1990 — — — — — — 1 1 
			 1991 — 1 — — — — — 1 
			 1992 — 1 — 4 — 1 — 6 
			 1993 — 5 — 5 — 1 — 11 
			 1994 — 6 — 4 — 1 2 13 
			 1995 — 3 1 4 — — 3 11 
			 1996 — 3 — 6 — — 1 10 
			 1997 — — — 3 — — — 3 
			 1998 — 6 — — — 1 2 9 
			 1999 — 4 — 5 — — — 9 
			 2000 (2)l 9 — 7 — 1 — 18 
			 2001 — 3 — 4 — 1 1 9 
			 2002 — 5 — 5 4 — — 14 
			 2003 — 1 — 5 — — — 6 
			 2004 — 2 — 10 — — — 12 
			 2005 — 3 — 12 3 — — 18 
			 2006 — — — 9 3 — 1 13 
			 2007 — — — 15 — 2 — 17 
			 2008 — — — 19 3 — — 22 
			 2009 — 1 — 16 2 — — 19 
			 2010 — 4 — 18 — — — 22 
			 2011 — — — 16 — — — 16 
			 2012(3) — 1 — 7 — — — 8 
			 (1) Includes oil and oil-fired gas turbines. (2) Uskmouth power station was refurbished and re-opened in 2000. (3) To end of May 2012, data for June 2012 onwards will be released on 25 July 2013.

Senior Civil Servants

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many senior civil servants left his Department and public bodies under voluntary exit and received a severance payment in each of the last three years; and what the value of such payments was.

Gregory Barker: A total of three senior civil servants (SCS) have left the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and its non-departmental public bodies (NDPB's) under voluntary exit arrangements in the period between April 2010 and March 2013: One in 2011-12 and two in 2012-13, All voluntary, exits included in this answer have been taken to include all non-compulsory departures.
	The total value of the payments associated with these exits was £111,513 in 2011-12 and £605,995 in 2012-13.
	The civil service compensation scheme was reformed in 2010. Under the previous terms there could be costs extending for up to 10 years from a departure while under the reformed scheme all of the costs fall within the year of departure.
	The above information is included in the Departments annual report and accounts for 2011-12 and 2012-13. Information on voluntary exits covering the period from DECC's formation in 2008 to March 2012 was also provided in a response to my hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Priti Patel) on 24 April 2013, Official Report, columns 974-75W.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Business: Billing

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many signatories to the Prompt Payment Code are members of the FTSE 350 index; and how many private firms have signed the Code to date.

Michael Fallon: As at 11 July 2013, 1,436 organisations had signed up to the Prompt Payment Code. This figure included 141 of the FTSE350 companies.

Business: Government Assistance

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many small and medium-sized enterprises in the South of England participated in the Growth Accelerator Scheme.

Michael Fallon: As of 8 July 2013, the total number of companies receiving direct support through the Growth Accelerator Scheme in the South of England (defined by the South East, South West and London) is 2,819. The split by ‘region' is as follows:
	
		
			 Region Number of contracted companies 
			 South East 1,135 
			 South West 706 
			 London 978

Copyright Designs & Patents Act 1988

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the compatibility of proposed changes to section 32 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 with Article 5(3)(a) of the Copyright Directive; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Swinson: The Government aims to ensure that all legislation is compliant with the UK's European and international obligations, and is confident that the proposed changes to Section 32 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 are compatible with Article 5(3)(a) of the Copyright Directive. The Government is currently inviting comment on its draft regulations for changes to copyright exceptions and would welcome any views on this issue as part of this process. Written comments on the draft regulations for educational exceptions should be submitted by 2 August either in writing to the Intellectual Property Office or by e-mail to:
	Copyriqhtconsultation@ipo.gov.uk

Cosmetics: EU Law

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2012, Official Report, column 728W, on cosmetics: EU law, if he will make it his policy to instruct local Trading Standards officers to examine the product information files accompanying cosmetic products to ensure compliance with the marketing ban on animal-tested cosmetics introduced by the seventh amendment to the European Cosmetics Directive, Directive 76/768 EEC.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will give guidance to Local Authority Trading Standards officers to examine product information files in the course of their normal business, to ascertain compliance with the marketing ban on animal-tested cosmetics.

Economic and Social Research Council: Scotland

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills who has been appointed as a Scotland Leadership Fellow by the Economic and Social Research Council; what funding has been made available to support their fellowships; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: With a referendum on Scottish independence due to be held in 2014, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has appointed seven one-year senior fellowships with overall funding of £1.3 million. The Fellows will also act as champions for the social sciences, promoting the importance of social science research in addressing current and future issues in relation to possible Scottish independence. The ESRC is in the process of commissioning an additional two fellowships. These are still at contract negotiation stage and are yet to be publicly announced. It is anticipated that they will commence from September 2013.
	The seven fellowships appointed to date are listed in the following table. Further information on their research can be found at:
	http://www.esrc.ac.uk/impacts-and-findings/our-research/future-of-uk-and-scotland/fellowships.aspx
	Information on ESRC-funded grants can be found via the Research Catalogue, which also includes details of over 100,000 research outputs arising from ESRC funding. The catalogue can be browsed by grant holder, year, output type, subject area and keyword:
	http://www.esrc.ac.uk/impacts-and-findings/research-catalogue/
	
		
			 HEI Title Applicant/grant holder Start date End date Amount 80% (£) 
			 University of Edinburgh Higher Education in Scotland, the Devolution Settlement and the Referendum on Independence Professor Sheila Riddell 1 March 2013 28 February 2014 226,095 
			 University of Edinburgh Between autonomy and interdependence: Scottish independence and intergovernmental coordination Dr Nicola McEwen 1 February 2013 31 January 2014 93,703 
			 National Institute of Economic and Social Research Currency and Fiscal Policy Options for an independent Scotland. Dr Angus Armstrong 11 March 2013 10 March 2014 181,889 
		
	
	
		
			 University of Stirling Fiscal Aspects of Constitutional Change Professor David Bell 1 February 2013 31 January 2014 284,622 
			 National Centre for Social Research Public Attitudes and Scotland's Independence Referendum Professor John Curtice 1 January 2013 31 December 2013 223,481 
			 University of Edinburgh The Referendum on Scottish Independence: A Democratic Audit Professor Stephen Tierney 1 March 2013 28 February 2014 120,539 
			 University of Aberdeen Constitutional Futures and Models of Policy Making Professor Michael Keating 1 February 2013 31 January 2014 148,451

Exports: Government Assistance

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses have received support through the Export Refinancing Facility.

Michael Fallon: The parameters of the Export Refinancing Facility are still being developed and therefore no businesses have yet received support through the facility.

Local Enterprise Partnerships

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many local enterprise partnerships have a female (a) chair and (b) chief executive.

Michael Fallon: Local enterprise partnership (LEP) board membership is a matter for LEPs themselves, although Government does request that LEP chairs and 50% of the LEP board should come from the business sector. Government does not hold information on the number of female chairs and female chief executives.

Local Enterprise Partnerships: EU Grants and Loans

Alan Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what criteria were used to determine the allocation of the European regional development fund and the European social fund monies to local enterprise partnerships in England.

Michael Fallon: Allocations for 2014-20 were made with respect to the EU budget categories of less developed regions, transition regions and more developed regions.
	The Government’s aim was to protect EU funding to those regions with the lowest GDP (designated ‘less developed’ as far as possible). EU regulations limited the Government to move just 3% of the budget between regional categories. As result 3% of the budget for more developed regions and transition regions at UK level was transferred to the less developed regions (Cornwall and West Wales and the Valleys) budget.
	On 26 March the Government announced that for 2014-20 England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would each receive an equal 5% reduction in relation to their overall European regional development fund (ERDF) and European social fund (ESF) allocation for 2007-13.
	In England, the allocations of ERDF and ESF for 2013 set the baseline for allocations for the 2014-20 funding period:
	All ‘transition’ regions received an equal c.20% uplift based on their UK spending commitment against the EU budget for 2013.
	All ‘more developed’ regions received a c. 5% uplift based on its UK spending commitment against the EU budget for 2013.
	Cornwall as the ‘least developed’ region received a 16% reduction—based on its UK spending commitments scheduled against the EU budget for 2013.
	4.3% of England's overall budget for ERDF and ESF has been reserved by Government for programme administration costs and for a service to support prisoners from prison and into paid employment upon their release.
	Allocations on the basis of NUTS 2(1) geographies were then converted to local enterprise partnership areas on the basis of population statistics.
	(1 )NUTS 2 regions are typically large counties or groups of smaller counties.

Mature Students

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what educational advice and support is available to mature students who wish to pursue (a) Level 2 courses, (b) Level 3 courses and (c) undergraduate degree courses.

Matthew Hancock: The National Careers Service provides information, advice and guidance to adults on all the choices available to them when they are considering their career or learning options. It is available face to face through over 2,800 local community based locations, including jobcentres and further education colleges. Alternatively people can call the national freephone helpline on 0800 100 900, or visit the website at:
	https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk
	The website offers a course directory listing all publicly funded further and higher education courses, and giving performance information about each course and its provider to help the individual make an informed choice.
	Overall investment in adult Further Education and Skills will be £4.1 billion in the 2013-14 financial year. Of this, £3.6 billion will be routed through the Skills Funding Agency to support the capacity for over 3 million learners. Mature students may be eligible for full or co-funding depending on the course of study and level of prior attainment. Full details of entitlements are set out in the Skills Funding Statement 2012-15 available through this link.
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/BISCore/further-education-skills/docs/S/12-p172-skills-funding-statement-2012-2015.pdf
	Discretionary Learner Support helps those most in need to meet some of the costs associated with further education. A Bursary Fund mirrors this for 24+ Advanced Learning Loan recipients. Both funds are administered directly by colleges and training organisations.
	24+ Advanced Learning Loans have been introduced in Further Education, to support adults aged 24 and above to take courses at Level 3 and Level 4. These loans are not subject to credit checks and the learner will only begin to repay once they earn over £21,000. The loans compliment the Government supported Professional and Career Development Loans, which over 25 years have enabled around a quarter of a million adults to undertake vocational study at all levels.
	For those considering higher education opportunities we want them to make the best choices of course and university. We are improving the information available to potential students so that they are better placed to make informed choices about higher education. The Key Information Set (KIS), published for the first time last September, now allows prospective students to compare the headline items which students consider most important.
	http://unistats.direct.gov.uk/
	Information on the student support package can be accessed through the
	www.Gov.uk
	and Student Finance England websites. Guidance materials are produced by Student Finance England for students intending to apply for full-time and part-time financial support and these are available in both hard copy and electronic formats. In addition, many universities and colleges also provide advice on student support and other aspects of HE for mature students on their websites.

Minimum Wage

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on enforcement of the national minimum wage.

Jo Swinson: No Ministers at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have had any recent discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the right hon. Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), on enforcement of the national minimum wage. The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), has, however, recently met with the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, the hon. Member for South West Hertfordshire (Mr Gauke), and officials from HM Revenue and Customs to discuss this matter.
	The Department is also in contact with HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs at official level.

New Businesses: Young People

Anne-Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of businesses which have secured funding under the Start-Up Loans scheme to date.

Michael Fallon: The Start-Up Loans Company reports that, as of 28 June, 5,477 businesses had secured funding under the Start-Up Loans scheme.

Northcote House

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department used the facilities at Northcote House, Sunningdale Park, Berkshire in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Swinson: Following a review of learning and development across government the National School of Government, which delivered training on the Sunningdale Park site, closed in March 2012. Data on which individuals may have used the site was not retained.

Postal Services

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills for how many years the provision of a six day universal service after any privatisation of Royal Mail will continue; and if he will bring forward legislative proposals to guarantee future universal service provision.

Jo Swinson: The Government is committed to securing the future of the universal postal service provided by Royal Mail, which is so important to our communities, society and the economy.
	Regardless of the nature of ownership, Royal Mail will still be the UK's designated universal service provider and will continue to provide deliveries to all UK addresses—rural and urban—on a six days a week basis.
	Parliament has guaranteed, through the Postal Services Act 2011, the continuation of collection and delivery of letters six days a week throughout the UK at uniform affordable prices. Only Parliament can change the level of our universal service.
	The steps we have taken so far to reform the regulatory framework and to support Royal Mail, coupled with securing access to private capital for the business, are the best way to safeguard the future of the universal service in the United Kingdom.

Regional Growth Fund: Dorset

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of (a) the performance of the Regional Growth Fund against its objectives and (b) the effect of the fund on (i) Bournemouth and (ii) Dorset; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: My written ministerial statement of 11 July 2013, Official Report, cols. 27-30WS, refers to the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) Annual Monitoring Report 2013, which details the progress up to 31 March 2013 in Rounds 1 and 2 of the RGF.
	Over 400 awards have been made in the four rounds totalling £2.6 billion of RGF which will generate £14.7 billion of private sector investment, delivering 550,000 jobs.
	A strategy to evaluate the overall RGF programme is now in place. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has recently commissioned the first phase of this, to comprise a scoping study of the possible approaches for conducting full impact and economic evaluations of the RGF and an evaluation of the RGF allocation process.
	No RGF allocation has been made to Bournemouth or Dorset but £210 million has been allocated to a number of programmes and projects in the South West Region from the four bidding rounds.

Royal Mail

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much the chief executive of Royal Mail was paid in 2012-13; and what percentage change in his salary there was between (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13.

Michael Fallon: The remuneration of the chief executive, Moya Greene, will be reported in Royal Mail's 2012-13 full annual report and accounts, which have not yet been published.

Royal Mail

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to his statement of 10 July 2013, Official Report, columns 361-76, on Royal Mail, 
	(1)  what information Royal Mail has provided to his Department to demonstrate its ability to fulfil its assurance on keeping a predominantly full-time workforce;
	(2)  what information Royal Mail has provided to his Department to demonstrate its ability to fulfil its assurance on using the current workforce with no change to the current structure of the company;
	(3)  what information Royal Mail has provided to his Department to demonstrate its ability to fulfil its assurance on not outsourcing any additional services.

Michael Fallon: As the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), said, in response to questions about his statement, these and other assurances are matters for Royal Mail.
	Royal Mail set out the assurances that it is prepared to make under a proposed three-year agreement in its press release issued on 1 July. On 10 July, Royal Mail issued a further press release in which, Moya Greene, chief executive, stated in relation to these assurances that Royal Mail:
	“...will create a legally-binding and enforceable contract with the CWU. Pay and protections could not be changed for the period of the contract without CWU agreement.”

Royal Mail

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to his statement of 10 July 2013, Official Report, columns 361-76, on Royal Mail, what the evidential basis is for his statement that under public ownership there is simply not the freedom for Royal Mail to raise capital in the markets.

Michael Fallon: Consecutive Governments have not permitted public sector bodies to borrow on private markets, as this would increase the Government's overall cost of borrowing.
	To ensure that Royal Mail can exploit market opportunities, such as the growth in online shopping, the company should be able to access flexible private sector capital just like its competitors.

Royal Mail

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to his statement of 10 July 2013, Official Report, columns 361-76, on Royal Mail, what alternatives to privatisation were explored by his Department as a means of providing the Royal Mail with access to capital.

Michael Fallon: The Government's reforms of the postal sector are based on the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Postal Sector led by Richard Hooper in 2008 which was commissioned by the previous Government and Richard Hooper's updated report in 2010. This review considered alternative structures such as the not for profit model (e.g. Network Rail and Glas Cymru) but rejected them on the grounds that Royal Mail was operating in a changing, competitive market and did not, therefore, have access to the steady income stream associated with water and rail network monopolies.
	As the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), said on 10 July, in relation to water companies, they:
	“have extremely high gearing because of the nature of their business and do not require anything like the same level of equity. We have a model that combines the best use of equity markets and the level of debt that the company will need to finance its future investment.”
	Like the previous Government, we decided that a sale of shares was the best way to give Royal Mail access to private capital and its associated commercial disciplines. This also reduces the risk of political intervention in commercial decisions.

Technology: Companies

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the (a) access to finance for UK tech companies and (b) relative competitiveness of the UK as a base for securing finance and initial public offerings for tech companies.

Michael Fallon: The Information Economy Strategy, published on 14 June 2013, considered the barriers potentially faced by technology start-ups including accessing finance. The Information Economy Council will work with the various tech clusters in the UK to identify common barriers to growth. This work will include consideration of access to finance issues. On initial public offerings, the Government is helping increase companies' access to funding from the public equity markets by:
	working with the London Stock Exchange to develop its new ‘high growth' segment;
	allowing shares from growth markets to be included in ISAs; and
	announcing in the March Budget the intention to remove stamp duty from the trading of shares on growth markets.

York College

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what funding was allocated to York College by the Skills Funding Agency and the Young People's Learning Agency in (a) cash and (b) real terms in each year since 2010-11.

Matthew Hancock: The Skills Funding Agency is responsible for the allocation of funding to further education colleges for post 19 education and training, and for apprenticeships for people aged 16 and over. The Young People's Learning Agency has been replaced by the Education Funding Agency (EFA) which provides funding for education for learners between the ages of three and 19. The following tables provide the information requested.
	Real terms figures: These figures have been calculated using HM Treasury deflators at 2012/13 prices, last updated 27 June 2013.
	Table 1 details the allocation of funding to York College from the Young People Learning Agency (YPLA) and the Education Funding Agency (EFA) since 2010/11. Funding is based on historic student numbers, therefore when student numbers fall the funding allocation will also fall. It is this figure that the EFA uses to calculate transitional protection and funding formula protection. These additional funding elements are used to protect a college's funding allocation when new funding methodologies and policies are introduced.
	
		
			 Table 1 
			  Student numbers (16 to 18 and 19 to 24) YPLA/EFA allocation (excludes bursary funding)—Cash (£) Funding per student(2 )(£) YPLA/EFA allocation (excludes bursary funding) at 2012/13 prices—Real terms (£) Funding per Student at 2012/13 price(2)—Real Terms (£) 
			 2010/11(1) 3,777 16,246,797 (3)4,268 17,308,500 (3)4,547 
			 2011/12 3,792 16,311,415 4,195 16,935,488 4,356 
			 2012/13 3,783 15,927,447 4,109 16,167,207 4,171 
			 2013/14 3,806 16,015,223 4,132 16,015,223 4,132 
			 (1) 16 to18 students/allocation/funding only; 19 to 24-year-old data not available. (2) Funding per student excludes bursary funding, transitional protection funding, formula protection funding and high needs funding. (3) 2010/11 detailed data are not available to recalculate funding per student for the new methodology. This figure will include high needs funding. 
		
	
	Table 2 sets out funding allocations for 2012/13 and 2013/14 to York College by The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) for post-19 FE and skills.
	
		
			 Table 2 
			 Academic year  19+ Cash allocation(1) (£) Real terms 2013/14(2)()(£) 
			 2012/13 Adult skills budget 3,414,749 3,493,288 
			 2013/14 Adult skills budget 2,766,702 2,766,702 
			  24+ Advanced learning loans facility(3) 435,815 435,815 
			 (1) Skills Funding Agency allocation data for 19+ participation, additional learning support and discretionary learner support. (2) These figures have been calculated using HM Treasury deflators, last updated 27 June 2013. (3) 24+ Advanced learning loans were introduced in 2013/14. (4) Previous PQs provided data up to 2011/12 academic year.

CABINET OFFICE

Average Earnings: Clwyd

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the average weekly gross earnings of full-time employed (a) men and (b) women in Vale of Clwyd constituency was in each year since 2006-07 (i) in cash terms and (ii) at constant prices.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated July 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions. Parliamentary Question 165170 asks the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate the UK Statistics Authority has made of the median gross weekly earnings of (a) men and (b) women employed (i) full-time and (ii) part-time in (A) Denbighshire Local Authority and (B) Vale of Clwyd constituency in each year since 1997 (1) in cash terms and (2) at 2013 prices. Parliamentary Question 165171 asks the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the average weekly gross earnings of full-time employed (a) men and (b) women in Vale of Clwyd constituency was in each year since 2006-07 (i) in cash terms and (ii) at constant prices.
	The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), carried out in April each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. Weekly levels of earnings are estimated from ASHE, and are provided for employees on adult rates of pay, whose earnings for the survey pay period were not affected by absence.
	The following tables show estimates of median gross weekly earnings in the Denbighshire local authority and Vale of Clwyd parliamentary constituency from 1997 to 2012, the latest period for which results are available. Figures are provided for full-time males, full-time females, part-time males and part-time females and are given separately in cash terms and in 2013 prices.
	This answer therefore provides the information requested in both Parliamentary Questions.
	
		
			 Median gross weekly earnings for employees(1) in Denbighshire local authority and Vale of Clwyd parliamentary constituency between April 1997 and April 2012 
			 £ cash prices 
			  Full-time males Full-time females 
			  Denbighshire local authority Vale of Clwyd parliamentary constituency Denbighshire local authority Vale of Clwyd parliamentary constituency 
			 1997 *302.9 **— **245.0 **264.2 
			 1998 *341.2 *330.7 **282.6 **307.5 
			 1999 *317.1 **317.1 **281.9 x 
			 2000 *345.7 **348.3 **313.2 **313.6 
			 2001 *356.9 **356.1 **273.4 **272.5 
			 2002 *402.0 **402.3 **262.4 **265.1 
			 2003 *383.9 **417.7 **256.7 **250.4 
			 2004(2) *382.5 **389.5 **271.5 **272.9 
			 2004(3) *374.3 *374.3 **271.5 **274.1 
			 2005 *394.7 **399.8 **305.0 **303.4 
			 2006(4) *367,3 **365.5 **335.1 *333.5 
			 2006(5) *367.9 **367.4 **333.5 **333.2 
			 2007 *382.4 **428.9 **351.9 **352.7 
			 2008 **437.3 **475.6 *391.6 **387.4 
			 2009 **482.7 **507.6 **446.3 **468.3 
			 2010 **439.7 **452.2 **408.0 **423.1 
			 2011(6) *463.6 **490.3 *475.7 *484.7 
			 2011(7) *460.9 **488.5 *454.3 *469.5 
			 2012 *454.4 *502.2 *468.0 *484.6 
		
	
	
		
			  Part-time males Part-time females 
			  Denbighshire local authority Vale of Clwyd parliamentary constituency Denbighshire local authority Vale of Clwyd parliamentary constituency 
			 1997 x x x x 
			 1998 x x x x 
			 1999 x x x x 
			 2000 x x x x 
			 2001 x x **104.7 **123.2 
			 2002 x x **104.0 **98.3 
			 2003 x x **111.9 x 
			 2004(2) x x x x 
			 2004(3) x x **111.1 **110.6 
			 2005 x x **137.8 **124.5 
			 2006(4) x x **156.4 *175.8 
			 2006(5) x x **156.5 **174.9 
			 2007 x x **134.9 **145.0 
			 2008 x x **157.7 **160.3 
			 2009 x x **153.7 **154.0 
			 2010 x x **152.3 **159.1 
			 2011(6) x x **148.2 **162.8 
			 2011(7) x x **149.7 **162.1 
			 2012 x x **151.8 **164.7 
			 1 Employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence. 2 2004 results excluding supplementary survey for comparison with 2003. 3 2004 results including supplementary survey designed to improve coverage of the survey (for more information see ONS website: www.ons.gov.uk). 4 2006 results with methodology consistent with 2005. 5 2006 results with methodology consistent with 2007. 6 2011 results based on Standard Occupational Classification 2000. 7 2011 results based on Standard Occupational Trusted Classification 2010. Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of a figure, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an average of 200 with a CV of 5% we would expect the population average to be within the range 180-220. Key CV < = 5% * CV > 5% and <= 10% ** CV > 10% and <= 20% X Unreliable due to small sample sizes Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), Office for National Statistics

Charities Act 2006

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Charities Act 2006 for the purpose of derogating provisions currently used to limit the activities of religious groups.

Nick Hurd: Religious charities of all faiths have an important role to play in building a bigger, stronger society. The vast majority of religious organisations have no difficulty meeting the requirements of charity status.
	The Public Administration Select Committee's Third Report of Session 2013-14: “The role of the Charity Commission and ‘public benefit’: Post legislative scrutiny of the Charities Act 2006” recommended that the removal of the presumption of public benefit in the Charities Act 2006 be repealed, along with the Charity Commission's statutory public benefit objective. The Government will publish its response to the report shortly.

Consultants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  how much (a) he and (b) officials in his Department spent on external assistance to prepare for (i) appearances before select committees and (ii) contact with the media in (A) 2011-12 and (B) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how much (a) the Deputy Prime Minister and (b) officials in his Office spent on external assistance to prepare for (i) appearances before select committees and (ii) contact with the media in (A) 2011-12 and (B) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how much (a) the Prime Minister and (b) officials in No. 10 Downing Street spent on external assistance to prepare for (i) appearances before select committees and (ii) contact with the media in (A) 2011-12 and (B) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Francis Maude: The Prime Minister's Office and the Deputy Prime Minister's Office are integral parts of the Cabinet Office and therefore the answer given is for the whole of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested is not held centrally. However, I am not aware of any costs relating to external assistance in preparing for Select Committees or contact with the media being incurred within the Department.

Crown Prosecution Service

Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many applicants shortlisted for the role of Director of Public Prosecutions were (a) women and (b) from a minority ethnic background.

Francis Maude: As was the case under the previous Administration, when the number of applicants were few such breakdowns are not normally provided.

Dual Mandate

Nigel Mills: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the contribution of the Minister of State for Northern Ireland on 9 July 2013, Official Report, column 311, on the Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, what his policy is on whether a member of the European Parliament should be able to be a member of (a) the Northern Ireland Assembly, (b) the Scottish Parliament and (c) the Welsh Assembly.

Chloe Smith: There is no restriction on members of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly, standing for election to become a Member of the European Parliament. The Government has no plans to change this policy.

Employment: Females

Jessica Morden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of women were working in the (a) public sector and (b) private sector in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated July 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what proportion of women were working in the (a) public sector and (b) private sector in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012. (165289)
	The table shows Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates of the number and proportion of women working in the public and private sector, for the period 2010 to 2012.
	In the LFS the distinction between public and private sector is based on respondents' views about the organisation for which they work. The public sector estimates provided do not correspond to official Public Sector Employment estimates. Those are derived directly from employers and are based on National Accounts definitions, but do not include a gender breakdown.
	
		
			 Number and proportion of women in the public and private sector, four quarter averages, 2010 to 2012 
			 Thousand and percentage 
			   All in employment 
			   Level As a percentage of population 
			  Female population aged 16 and over Total(1) Public sector(2) Private sector Total(1) Public sector(2) Private sector 
			 2010 25,494 13,481 4,664 8,734 52.9 18.3 34.3 
			 2011 25,668 13,550 4,567 8,905 52.8 17.8 34.7 
			 2012 25,833 13,684 4,475 9,121 53.0 17.3 35.3 
			 (1 )Includes those that did not state their sector. (2) In the LFS the distinction between public and private sector is based on respondents' views about the organisation for which they work. The public sector estimates provided here do not correspond to the official public sector employment. Source: Labour Force Survey (LFS).

Food

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of all food procured for his Department was sourced from (a) British producers, (b) small and medium-sized enterprises and (c) producers which met British buying standards in the latest period for which figures are available.

Chloe Smith: All of the Department's meat, poultry and milk come from UK producers. Government Buying Standards (GBS) are mandatory for central Government.
	Our facilities management provider on our central London estate uses SMEs for 69% of their business by cost.

Grant Thornton

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much his Department has spent on contracts with Grant Thornton in each year since 2008.

Francis Maude: Cabinet Office has no record of payments made to Grant Thornton in the period from 2008 to date.
	Since January 2011, central Government Departments have been required to publish on Contracts Finder information on the contracts they award
	www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/
	In addition, Departments publish details of spend in excess of £10,000.

Population

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office with reference to the answer of 11 February 2013, Official Report, column 210W, on population, when he expects to publish the data requested.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated July 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 11 February 2013, Official Report, column 210W, on population, when he expects to publish the data requested. 164682.
	The information you have requested is not available. This will be published in September 2013.

Public Appointments

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  when he last published statistics on the number of (a) women, (b) ethnic minorities and (c) disabled people on public boards;
	(2)  how many (a) women, (b) ethnic minorities and (c) disabled people were appointed to the public boards for which he is responsible in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013 and (v) in total.

Francis Maude: holding answer 12 July 2013
	The Commissioner for Public Appointments collates and publishes diversity statistics annually. The latest figures for 2012-13 in relation to diversity, ethnicity and disability can be found on his website at
	http://publicappointmentscommissioner.independent.gov.uk
	Copies are also available in the Library of the House.
	This is also the first year that the Government has published its own statistics on the gender diversity of public appointments. In 2012-13 37% of new public appointments were women. A breakdown by Departments can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/news/drive-to-increase-number-of-women-on-public-boards

Senior Civil Servants: Ethnic Groups

Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he is taking to ensure that there will be at least one Black, Asian and minority ethnic permanent secretary by 2015.

Francis Maude: Appointments at permanent secretary level, as is the case for elsewhere in the civil service, must be made on merit. As part of the Civil Service Reform programme we are working to reform talent management which has been lacking.

Third Sector: Business

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will publish an evaluation of the Business Connectors pilots; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: The evaluation of the Business Connectors pilots was undertaken by Business in the Community (BITC). The evaluation is a technical document used to inform the development of the programme and was therefore not published by BITC. However, they are happy to provide it to anyone requesting a copy and have agreed to make it available on their website. I have placed a copy in the Library of the House.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Disability Living Allowance

Aidan Burley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many infants under the age of 3 years old in England receives the care component of disability living allowance;
	(2)  how many children in England currently receive the (a) care and (b) mobility component of disability living allowance.

Esther McVey: The following table shows numbers of disability living allowance (DLA) recipients under three years old, by care award type, November 2012:
	
		
			 DLA care component rate Recipients 
			 Highest Care Rate 8,620 
			 Middle Care Rate 920 
			 Lowest Care Rate 5,900 
			 Total 15,450 
			 Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10; totals may not sum due to rounding. 2. Data shows the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and excludes cases where the payment has been suspended e.g. if they are in hospital. Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate, 100% WPLS 
		
	
	The latest data showing how many children under the age of 16 currently receive the care and mobility components of disability living allowance can be found at:
	http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/tabtool.html
	Guidance on how to use the tabulation tool is detailed on the contents page.

Disability Living Allowance: Females

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of people who will be moved from (a) higher and (b) middle rates of disability living allowance to the lower rate of personal independence payment in (i) the UK and (ii) Wales are female.

Esther McVey: The available information on personal independence payment is published in a reassessments and impacts briefing note. This can be found on the Government's website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/180964/pip-reassessments-and-impacts.pdf
	The available information on the impact of personal independence payment by gender is published in the Equality Impact Assessment. This can be found on the Government's website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/174970/eia-dla-reform-wr2011.pdf.pdf

Food

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of all food procured for his Department was sourced from (a) British producers, (b) small and medium-sized enterprises and (c) producers which met British buying standards in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mark Hoban: Since 1998 the Department for Work and Pensions has occupied the majority of its accommodation under a private finance initiative (PFI) known as the PRIME contract. Under the terms of this PFI the Department lease back fully serviced accommodation from its private sector partner Telereal Trillium which includes the provision of all catering services through their service partner, Compass Group, trading as Eurest. They can confirm that for the year 2012-13 (to date) the percentage of food procured for the DWP catering contract that has been produced in the UK is 57%, previous year 2011-12 was 36%. However, it should be noted that there are considerable volumes of non-indigenous products purchased including; tea, coffee, rice, citrus and exotic fruits. In addition they also purchase out of UK season, fruits and vegetables.
	They procure food from 44 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for the DWP contract and all food provided meets the British buying standards.

Industrial Health and Safety

Adrian Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the recommendations of the Löftstedt Report into Reclaiming health and safety for all: An independent review of health and safety legislation, published in November 2011, what steps he is taking to extend the Independent Regulation Panel's remit to include COMAH related regulatory decisions.

Mark Hoban: There are specific routes to raise concerns about most of HSE's regulatory activities in higher hazard industries including those covered by COMAH. The Independent Regulatory Challenge panel considers other regulatory decisions not covered by these dispute processes.
	In response to the BRE Focus on Enforcement Review of the chemicals (COMAH) sector, HSE has committed to make improvements to the regime which, among other things, will provide operators greater clarity and confidence in the arrangements for challenging regulatory and cost recovery decisions.

Industrial Health and Safety: Scotland

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many workplace inspections are planned by the Health and Safety Executive for Scotland; and how many such inspections will be carried out in the (a) agricultural sector and (b) construction sector.

Mark Hoban: In 2013-14, HSE plans to undertake approximately 2,250 workplace inspections in Scotland.
	HSE does not routinely proactively inspect farms as this has not been found to be the most effective intervention technique and other approaches, such as holding Safety and Health Awareness Days are used instead. Therefore, no targets have been set for the numbers of inspections in the agriculture sector for 2013-14.
	HSE plans to undertake approximately 950 to 1,000 inspections in the construction sector in Scotland in 2013-14.

Industrial Health and Safety: Scotland

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many workplace inspections were carried out by the Health and Safety Executive for Scotland in each year since 2010; and how many such inspections were carried out in the (a) agricultural sector and (b) construction sector.

Mark Hoban: The figures for workplace inspections carried out by the Health and Safety Executive in Scotland in 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 are shown in the table:
	
		
			  2010-11(1) 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Overall total 3,579 2,236 2,787 
			 Agricultural Sector 289 96 90 
			 Construction Sector 1,707 986 958 
			 (1) Prior to 2011-12, data on the numbers of inspections were not required as part of the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) performance measures and were not directly recorded. The figures for 2010-11 are, therefore, a best estimate derived from data collected at that time.

Jobcentre Plus

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has undertaken of levels of job satisfaction among staff of Jobcentre Plus.

Mark Hoban: DWP carries out a people survey annually in October. This covers all its staff including those in Jobcentre Plus, the public facing arm of DWP. Following re-structuring, this is now known internally as work services directorate and is supported by network services directorate and benefit directorate. The survey is part of the civil service people survey (CSPS) in which all civil service Departments and agencies participate. The survey covers a range of work related indicators including work engagement which is related to job satisfaction. Engagement improved in Jobcentre Plus (work services directorate) by 3% to 49% in 2012.

Mining: Pensions

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to ensure that miners being made redundant as a result of UK Coal going into administration receive 100 per cent of their pensions.

Steve Webb: Members with accrued rights in the two large occupational pension schemes that existed before privatisation in 1994 have their rights safeguarded up to the point of privatisation by solvency guarantees from Her Majesty's Government. Alternative schemes have been established since 1994.
	If an employee of UK Coal is made redundant they will become a deferred member of their current pension scheme. What the member will get from their scheme when they take their pension will depend on which scheme they are a member of and the benefits that scheme provides.
	If they are a member of the money purchase scheme they will receive the value of their benefits at that point. If they are a member of the defined benefit scheme and that scheme transfers to the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), they will receive pension compensation in place of their pension.
	The PPF is a compensation scheme, whose aim is to pay a meaningful level of compensation to members. In general, the PPF pays the 100% level of pension compensation to those who have reached their scheme's normal pension age at the start of a PPF assessment period, and the 90% level of pension compensation for those below their scheme's normal pension age, subject to the compensation cap. There are other restrictions on compensation payments, such as limited indexation.

New Enterprise Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what proportion of (a) jobseeker's allowance recipients currently eligible for the new enterprise allowance (NEA), (b) people referred to the NEA in the last year, (c) recipients of the NEA in the last year and (d) NEA recipients have established a business to date who are over 50 years old;
	(2)  how many people over 50 years old have been referred to the new enterprise allowance scheme in the last 12 months; and what proportion this figure is of all jobseeker's allowance recipients over 50 years old;
	(3)  what proportion of eligible jobseeker's allowance recipients have been referred to the new enterprise allowance scheme in the last 12 months.

Mark Hoban: All JSA claimants who are not currently mandated to the Work programme are eligible for the new enterprise allowance (NEA).
	The Department does not publish data on referrals to NEA. The number of mentor starts and allowance starts, broken down by age group is available on:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/195957/pwp_gbw_feb13.pdf.pdf
	The data covers the period April 2011 to the end of November 2012 and includes a monthly breakdown.
	The age breakdown of NEA participation shows that between April 2011 and November 2012, the over 50s represent 22% of all mentor starts, and 24% of all allowance claims.

Social Security Benefits

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time taken for a benefit applicant to receive written notification of the outcome of an application was in each of the last three years.

Mark Hoban: As benefit decisions are written to the customer, details of the additional time it takes these decisions to be processed through the Royal Mail are not held. Therefore, the only information that can be provided is the average time taken to process the application, which ends when the decision is finalised.
	This is referred to as the actual average clearance time (AACT). Data for last three years is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Claims actual average clearance time (AACT) 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Attendance allowance 13.1 14.7 14.5 
			 Bereavement benefit 10.9 15.6 19.9 
			 Disability living allowance 30.3 27.2 27.5 
			 Employment and support allowance 10.7 9.5 10.4 
			 Jobseeker’s allowance 9.2 9.3 9.7 
			 Income support 6.9 7.0 6.7 
			 Maternity allowance 7.1 6.6 7.8 
			 Pension credit 12.7 10.3 10.7 
			 State pension 13.4 13.3 12.6

Social Security Benefits

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time taken by his Department and its agencies to consider an application for benefit was (a) in 2008 and (b) in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Mark Hoban: The data that is available is the Average Actual Clearance Time (AACT) which is the average time taken between an application being made and the date the customer was notified of the decision on their claim.
	Data is available by operational year therefore the figures shown for 2008 are for the operational year 2008-09. The latest data available is for the current year to date to June.
	
		
			 Claims Actual Average Clearance Time (AACT) 2008-09 13/14 June YTD 
			 Attendance Allowance 12.3 19.7 
			 Bereavement Benefit 14.6 17.0 
			 Disability Living Allowance 29.8 27.8 
			 Employment and Support Allowance 13.4 10.3 
			 Jobseekers Allowance 10.1 9.4 
			 Income Support 8.3 6.8 
			 Maternity Allowance 19.7 6.1 
			 Pension Credit — 12.6 
			 State Pension — 15.6 
		
	
	Unfortunately no data for pension credit or state pension was available back to 2008.

Universal Credit

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of covering (a) 75 per cent and (b) 80 percent of eligible childcare costs for all recipients of universal credit.

Mark Hoban: The information is as follows:
	Covering 75% of eligible child care costs for all families in receipt of universal credit where both parents (or a single parent) work is estimated to cost around £100 million;
	Covering 80% of eligible child care costs for all families in receipt of universal credit where both parents (or a single parent) work is estimated to cost around £300 million.
	All figures are additional to the costs of universal credit set out in the autumn statement of 5 December 2012, Official Report, columns 871-882, which included coverage of 70% of eligible child care costs for all families where both parents (or a single parent) work:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/185454/as2012_policy_costings.pdf.pdf
	As set out in the Budget 2013, the Government will spend an additional £200 million on child care support through universal credit, which is equivalent to providing support for 85% of eligible child care costs where the lone parent or both earners in a couple work and pay income tax. This will be introduced from April 2016.
	All figures refer to universal credit in steady state, when migration has been completed and universal credit has been fully rolled out, and are rounded to the nearest £100 million.

Universal Credit

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost to the Exchequer of decreasing the universal taper rate to (a) 60 per cent and (b) 55 per cent.

Mark Hoban: The aim of universal credit is to encourage work. The current taper rate maximises the financial reward of working each extra hour, while remaining affordable.
	Decreasing the taper rate from 65% to 60% is estimated to cost an additional £1.5 billion.
	Decreasing the taper rate from 65% to 55% is estimated to cost an additional £3.3 billion.
	All costs refer to universal credit in steady state, when migration has been completed and universal credit has been fully rolled out, are rounded to the nearest £0.1 billion and are expressed in 2014-15 prices.
	This analysis has been modelled using the Department's Policy Simulation Model, using the Family Resources Survey data, 2010-11.
	These figures do not take account of any potential increase in employment as a result of a decreased taper rate and are in line with the Universal Credit Impact Assessment published in December 2012.

Universal Credit

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people who are financially disadvantaged in (a) the UK and (b) Wales as a result of the introduction of universal credit; and what proportion of such people are female.

Mark Hoban: Transitional protection will be offered to claimants who are moved from legacy benefits to universal credit where their circumstances have otherwise remained the same, to ensure that they do not receive less as a result of their move to universal credit.
	Further details of the impacts of universal credit can be found in the most recently published impact assessment (December 2012), available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/174996/universal-credit-wr2011-ia.pdf.pdf

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the scalability for national roll-out of the initial IT system being used to support the delivery of universal credit in the current pathfinders.

Mark Hoban: Performance testing undertaken as part of the implementation of Pathfinder has confirmed that the existing universal credit infrastructure can support the progressive national roll-out announced to Parliament on 10 July 2013. We will set out more details of our development plan in the autumn.

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people aged over 50 and in receipt of employment and support allowance were referred to the Work programme in its first two years; and how many such people have secured a sustained job outcome.

Mark Hoban: The information requested is given in the following table:
	
		
			 Number(1) of Work programme referrals(2) and job outcomes(3,4) for claimants aged over 50(5) and in the employment support allowance (ESA) payment groups(6):1 June 2011 to 31 March 2013(7) 
			  Total 
			 Referrals 42,150 
			 Job outcomes 770 
			 (1) Figures are cumulative and are rounded to the nearest 10. (2) Referrals: Referrals shown are ‘net’ referrals which do not include rejections, cancellations or referrals to ESA information sessions. (3) Job outcomes: The Work programme IT payment system update went live in April 2012. All outcomes prior to this were recorded clerically and uploaded to the system during April and May 2012. The outcome date for these is based on the date the information was uploaded to the system. For job outcomes recorded after this, outcome dates are based on the date that payments were made to providers following pre-payment validation processes to confirm job outcomes. The manual pre-payment validation checks may take time to conduct resulting in a delay between the job outcome being claimed and the date the payment is made to providers, and hence recorded in the statistics. Validation procedures continue to improve to streamline the process as issues are identified. For further details around issues and delays to job outcome payments please see the information note available on the WP landing page: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/series/work-programme-statistics--2 (4) A job outcome payment can be claimed when there has been a either a continuous or cumulative period of employment of at least 13 weeks for the ESA payment groups. (5) Age: Age is fixed at the time of referral. (6) Payment group: Payment groups are assigned by Jobcentre Plus, on the basis of a claimant's circumstances, and benefit they receive. For more information on the payment groups, when they commenced and inconsistencies please see the information note available on the WP landing page. (7) Data to 31 March 2013 are the latest information available. Source: DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate (IGS)